Factsheets
Our factsheets are simple explanations about the Assembly, its history, and how it works. All factsheets are web accessible with print versions available to download on each page.
👁️ Roles of the Assembly
Learn about our legislative, accountability, and representation functions
🗣️ The Assembly chamber
Find out about the room at the centre of your local democracy
📑 Chamber documents
A guide to the six key documents about what's going on in the chamber
⚙️ How laws are made
An insight into the seven stages of making a law in the ACT
🔎️ Assembly committees
Find out about where all the Assembly's in-depth work is done
👤 Members' roles and responsibilities
Learn about the core responsibilities of MLAs plus the other roles they can take on
🪃 First Australians and the Assembly
Find out more about the our reconciliation journey with Indigenous peoples
🚺 Women in the Assembly
A history of firsts relating to women's representation in the Assembly
🌈 LGBT+ people and the Assembly
A history of political representation and laws affecting LGBT+ peoples
🏛️ The Westminster System down under
How features of the oldest type of democracy appear in the ACT
3️⃣ The three levels of government
About the ACT's unique place within Australia's three levels of government
🏙️ Establishing the nation's capital
Why Australia created a capital city and how it chose its location
🗳️ ️The road to self-government
How the ACT went from full federal control to self-governing by 1989
⭐ Symbols of the ACT
About the things we use to represent ourselves as Canberrans
🔠 Glossary of parliamentary words
Check a full list of what parliamentary terms mean
Posters
All posters are ready-to-print A3 PDF files. If you're a teacher and would like a hardcopy for your class, email us.
Topic explainers
Curriculum-linked content designed for primary and junior secondary school educators to use in the classroom, with activity options and links to other great teaching resources included.
ℹ️ Levels of government in the ACT
Years 4 (AC9HS4K08) and 6 (AC9HS6K06, AC9HS6K07)
ℹ️ MLA roles and responsibilities
Years 4 (AC9HS4K08), 5 (AC9HS5K06), and 6 (AC9HS6K06)
ℹ️ The Westminster system
Years 5 (ACHS5K06) and 6 (AC9HS6K06 )
ℹ️ Petitions (coming soon)
Years 5 (AC9HS5K07), 7 (AC9HC7S04), and 8 (AC9HC8K01)
ℹ️ The separation of powers
Years 6 (AC9HS6K06) and 7(AC9HC7K01)
ℹ️ Representation in the Legislative Assembly
Year 8 (AC9HC8K01, AC9HC8K02)
Case studies
Compact case studies designed for senior secondary students and educators that explore complex issues from the Assembly's history. All cases are aligned to the relevant ACT college and NSW Stage 6 curricula and include a set of teacher's notes. Each case is available in HTML and as a downloadable print-ready PDF.
Content warning: Some of these case studies deal with mature themes and may not be appropriate for younger audiences.
📱 Adapting laws to technological developments
How intimate image abuse was criminalised in the ACT
Activities
Chamber roleplay
- Guide: Set up your classroom like a chamber (
926KB) - Video: Creating a classroom chamber
- Guide: How to run your chamber roleplay (
334KB) - Template: Customisable chamber roleplay script ( 238KB)
Committee roleplay
Other activities
- Print-out: Federal or territory responsibilities ( 103KB) - Designed for years 4 and 6
- Print-out: Who are my local members ( 128KB) - Designed for years 4, 5, and 6
- Print-out: Separation of powers ( 253KB) - Designed for years 6 and 7
- Game: MLA Dash ( 2.1MB) - Designed for primary levels
- Game: Territory or federal memory( 177KB) - Designed for primary levels
- Game: Westminster system memory ( 269KB) - Designed for primary levels
- Game: Parliamentary celebrity heads ( 145KB) - Designed for primary levels
Videos
All videos open on Vimeo, the Assembly's video hosting platform.
Highlights
Series
- Series Minute with your Members - 10th Assembly (18 videos)
- Series: Minute with your Members - 9th Assembly (23 videos)
- Series: Parliamentary roles (6 videos)
- Series: Symbols of our Democracy (4 videos)