Issues
Proposed laws to regulate lesson content By Pat Byrne President
It is 2022. A history teacher gives a Year 10 class a lesson covering the Holocaust. The lesson is presented in accordance with ACDSEH107 of the Australian Curriculum. The subject is part of the depth studies component, in this case World War II in which “Students investigate wartime experiences through a study of World War II in depth. This includes a study of the causes, events, outcome and broader impact of the conflict as an episode in world history, and the nature of Australia’s involvement.” In accordance with the requirements of the curriculum, students investigate the scale and significance of the Holocaust using primary sources. The next day an angry parent arrives at the school, demanding to see the principal. The parent complains that the teacher failed to teach students that some people feel the Holocaust never happened, that it is all a giant hoax cooked up by powerful figures who want society to be run by a new world order of shadowy figures. Two days later a writ is received by the school. The parent has applied to a court for an order enforcing the teaching of the theory that the Holocaust never happened. A week later the school has been served with an order that every time any lesson is conducted around the Holocaust there has to be equal time given to the belief that the Holocaust was a hoax. The school is found to have breached the provisions of an amendment to the Australian Education Act 2013 which reads as follows: 8
Western Teacher March 2021
22AA Conditions of financial assistance— prohibiting the indoctrination of children (1) A payment of financial assistance under this Act to a State or Territory is subject to the condition that the State or Territory has in force laws that: (a) prohibit a staff member (however described) of a school promoting partisan views or activities to students when teaching a subject or administering the school’s affairs; and (b)
require a staff member (however described) of a school to provide students with a balanced presentation of opposing views on political, historical and scientific issues as such issues arise in the teaching of a subject; and
(c) enable a court, on the application of a parent or guardian of a student at a school, to make an order for the enforcement of the
provisions of any laws that give effect to the requirements set out in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section; and (d) require a school to: (i)
consult with parents or guardians of students at that school to ascertain the extent to which staff members (however described) have provided students with a balanced presentation of opposing views on political, historical and scientific issues as such issues arise in the teaching of a subject; and
(ii) have regard to any feedback received as a result of those consultations. (2) In this section, school includes a non government school that provides distance education to students.
