Youth Jam's Isaac Mulcrone calls for mandatory Parliament tours for students, as civics education dwindles

Should visits/tours of Parliament House be mandatory for school students?

New research - by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) - has found just 27% of year 10 students were proficient in civics and citizenship issues last year, that's down from 38% in 2019.

The data also indicates that only a quarter of year 10s intend to take part in protests or demonstrations and a small number (28%) said they had been on an excursion to a parliament or court of law in 2024.

The statistics have brought up a novel idea for Isaac Mulcrone - host of the Newsflash podcast. He wants all school students to be offered the opportunity to visit a Parliament, whether it be WA's state Parliament or the Federal Parliament, in Canberra.

"I strongly believe every student should have an excursion to Parliament House, whether it be the state parliament or the federal parliament. Every single school student should be given the opportunity to go to Parliament House," Isaac suggested to listeners.

Mulcrone visited Federal Parliament - in Canberra - as part of a primary school camp and said it helped to educate him on "how Government works".

"If we want people to be involved and interested and vote with actual practicality then we must teach people about politics, because funnily enough it does effect every single person. Every single person is impacted by something the Parliament does," Isaac said.

Just a week prior to this data being observed the Federal Parliamentary Inquiry into civics and citizenship called for mandatory lessons for all Year 11 and 12 students.

The Shadow Education Minister Sarah Henderson has laid blame at the feet of the Albanese Government, arguing that school curriculums needed to prioritise the "fundaments such as a deeper knowledge of civics and citizenship".

“Young Australians must understand the democratic principles which underpin our nation which is why civics education is so important. Teachers must have the training and curriculum resources to ensure students learn the value of our democracy," Senator Henderson said.

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