Local government is the level of community decision-making that is the closest, most relevant, and most cost accessible to young people. It is also an area where they have the most impact.

Educators, schools and students have the greatest opportunity to educate and empower youth on their potential impact on local government. Early involvement and teaching on how to become active and informed citizens can nurture and cultivate interest in their local community and environment.

Young people need to be provided with opportunities to experience and develop civic values and understand the role they can play and the responsibilities that come with it.

How to involve young people in local government

Visit a local council

A visit to the local council can be an exciting, enjoyable and valuable part of a school program. These visits provide students first-hand opportunities to learn how local government works. Students can:

• understand how the political system and their community works
• how local government affects their lives
• become involved with their community as active citizens
• interact with staff and council members while gaining knowledge of their local community
• communicate, find information and investigate the functions and activities of council.

Inviting council to a classroom

Bring the council into a classroom by inviting an elected member or council employee to speak. This can provide students an insightful perspective on how councils operate and how decisions are made.

Would you like to organise a visit to the local council or have an elected member or council staff member visit your school?

Contact the council directly and liaise with the appropriate person.

Stage a mock council meeting

Conducting a mock council meeting can be an effective way to introduce students to the role and function of local government and the council chamber environment.

When prepared well, a mock council meeting generally performs well. Students are confident, relaxed and able to learn from and enjoy the meeting experience.

You can use running a mock council meeting (DOCX, 72.09 KB) to help you prepare and organise your first mock meeting.

Curriculum resources

The South Australian Department for Education has developed curriculum units of work with content  about local government in Australia.

The Civics and Citizenship units of work are provided across year levels and include scope and sequence documents  , unit plans and comprehensive teaching and learning resources.

Teachers may also find the Humanities and Social Sciences Reception to 6 and Year 7 to 10 scope and sequence documents useful.

The units of work are available via Plink for Department for Education staff members, as well as independent and Catholic educators.

After logging into Plink, select the ‘Resources’ tab at the top of the page. Then select either the curriculum resources image or the scope and sequence image to access the units of work or scope and sequence documents. These can be filtered by learning area.

Tips for schools and teachers

You might consider organising a council visit or inviting a council member or staff to school.

Before contacting your council:

• work out who you'd prefer for the visit (an elected member, engineer or community relations officer)
• decide whether it would be best for the school to visit council or vice versa
• determine the amount of time required and number of students likely to attend
• assess how much students can accomplish in one visit to council.

You can then contact the council to discuss your plans, ideas, and activities for the visit.

Also send your council a copy of the curriculum materials and aims. This will allow the council to develop a presentation tailored to your specific subject.