Dissenting report by Senator the Hon James McGrath

1.1The Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters' (JSCEM) inquiry into civics education, engagement, and participation in Australia served as an important opportunity for community groups and experts to come together to discuss the effectiveness and accessibility of civics education in Australia.

1.2The Final Report provided a rigorous assessment and a consideration of mechanisms to improve civics education. Indeed, many Recommendations in the Final Report focus on specific tools to improve the dissemination, accessibility, and national alignment of civics education in Australia.

1.3However, some Recommendations take away from the overall objective and scope of this inquiry. That is, some Recommendations focus on mechanisms to target and tailor different forms of civics education to different types of Australians, rather than improving the civics education of all Australians.

1.4For example, Recommendation 23 states:

Research should be focused on…how vulnerable groups, such as culturally and linguistically diverse communities, receive and consume information to better understand how to combat misinformation and disinformation in these communities.

1.5Though there is a place to tailor educational resources based on language, these types of Recommendations are examples of deficit discourse that ultimately looks down on such communities and targets the differences between Australians rather than what unites us.

1.6As such, parts of JSCEM's inquiry into civics education, engagement, and participation in Australia makes strong strides to improve civics education in Australia. However, civics education should be focused on the dissemination and promotion of civics in Australia on a non-ideological basis rather than tailoring different educational practices to different Australians depending on their race or ethnicity.

Senator the Hon James McGrath

Deputy Chair