Politics and Young People

A research project of the Whitlam Institute called “Young People Imagining a New Democracy” is investigating how young people engage with the democratic process in Australia. This review shows young Australians are anything but apathetic. They are strongly engaged with political issues and social causes such as the environment, poverty, health and an
Australian republic. However, they feel alienated and marginalised by old, formal, institutionalised politics. The review finds that for young people, there’s been a generational shift in Australian politics. The research shows it’s no longer about political loyalties, it’s about political choice.
Young Australians are distrustful of politicians and they are not content to accept the hierarchies in traditional institutions of democracy. They prefer to engage in grassroots campaigns and
cause-based activities, where they feel like they can make a difference.
The main observations from the review include:
• Young people will vote because they have to, but they do not see the efficacy of voting.
• High numbers of young people state they would not enrol or vote all the time, if it were not
compulsory.
• Issues such as lack of permanent housing impact on young peoples’ electoral enrolment and
participation.
• Few young people are mobilised to join unions and ever fewer are members of political parties.
• Young people are interested in political issues and are engaged in a wide range of new participatory activities, particularly when they can see tangible outcomes for their efforts.
• Gender, class and ethnicity have an impact on young people’s participation.
[from a Media release 27/8/08]
To download a copy of the literature review, visit: www.whitlam.org
Louise

Australian Human Rights Commission

4 September 2008 - HREOC will now be known as the Australian Human Rights Commission
From today, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) will be known as the Australian Human Rights Commission.
The design represents an evolution from the long-standing HREOC logo, and includes the positioning statement, ‘everyone, everywhere, everyday’, which is drawn from the Australian Human Rights Commission’s new vision statement, “Human rights: everyone, everywhere, everyday”.
The new corporate image for the Australian Human Rights Commission is the first step towards ensuring that all Australian audiences know that Australia has an independent national institution with the responsibility to protect and promote human rights in Australia.
The Commission’s goals are outlined in its new vision and mission statements which can be found at www.humanrights.gov.au/about/index.html
The Commission’s legal name will remain the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission.
Louise

Sydney Water Catchment Filtration

For information on the Sydney Water catchment and filtration process go to http://www.sydneywater.com.au/OurSystemsAndOperations/WaterSystems/

Ross

handy HOT TOPIC is now on-line

The latest Hot Topic available on-line is all about the Australian legal system...and so is also good for staff who may be interested in background knowledge about this subject.
http://www.liac.sl.nsw.gov.au/hot/
Louise

NSW HSC ONLINE

This is a fantastic on-line source for HSC students. Content is run by the NSW Dept. of Education and Charles Sturt University. The website includes study guides, exams, forums, links to other knowledge sites, exam techniques.

http://hsc.csu.edu.au/

Louise

Statistics from Nationmaster

NationMaster is at http://www.nationmaster.com/ and they have a wide range of current statistical information on such topics as population, geography, crime, transportation, energy, lifestyle, religion.
A major feature of the website is that it allows users to generate graphs based on numerical data extracted from the a wide variety of sources including CIA World Factbook, UN, and OECD. And is excellent for comparing data between countries.

You can use the general search button with keywords or also take a look at the facts and statistics category subject choices. The first screens you get show bar graphs but using the MAP tab you can get visual world wide comparisons and can then zoom in to regions and countries.

Louise

Who plays computer games? - statistics

2008 Essential Facts About the Computer and Video Game Industry (16 page PDF; 120 KB) http://www.theesa.com/facts/pdfs/ESA_EF_2008.pdf
Source: Entertainment Software Association
65% of American households play computer or video games.
The average game player age is 35.
In 2008, 26% of gamers were over the age of 50.
The average age of the most frequent game purchaser is: 40
Women age 18 or older represent a significantly greater portion of the game-playing population (33%) than boys age 17 or younger (18%).
13 is the average number of years adult gamers have been playing computer or video games.
59% of gamers play games with other gamers in person.
94% of the time parents are present at the time games are purchased or rented.
63% of parents believe games are a positive part of their childrens lives.
83% of the time children receive their parents permission before purchasing or renting a game.
Parents report always or sometimes monitoring the games their children play 88% of the time.
Posted by Louise