Year 8 HASS – Term 3 (WA Curriculum): Democracy, Markets and Citizenship in Australia

What this unit covers

In Term 3, Year 8 HASS in the WA Curriculum centres on the unit “Democracy, Markets and Citizenship in Australia”.

Students explore Australia's democratic processes, economic systems, and their roles and responsibilities as active citizens in a mixed market economy.

Lesson sequence (30 lessons)

The unit breaks down into the following lesson-by-lesson sequence — each title below is a teachable lesson, in order:

1. Understanding Australia's Parliamentary System Structure
2. How Federal Parliament is Composed and Organised
3. Exploring Preferential Voting in Australian Elections
4. Understanding Proportional Representation Systems
5. Who Can Vote? Voter Eligibility Requirements in Australia
6. Why is Voting Compulsory in Australia?
7. The Secret Ballot: Protecting Democratic Rights
8. How Government is Formed After Elections
9. Political Parties and Their Key Principles
10. Independent Representatives and Their Growing Influence
11. Minority Government and Balance of Power Concepts
12. How Citizens Contact Their Elected Representatives
13. Understanding Lobby Groups and Their Advocacy Role
14. Direct Action as a Form of Democratic Participation
15. How Different Groups Achieve Representation in Government
16. Joining Lobby Groups to Advocate for Causes
17. Young People's Rights When Questioned by Police
18. Responsibilities When Following Police Directions
19. Understanding Australia's Mixed Market Economy
20. How Markets Answer: What to Produce?
21. How Markets Decide: How to Produce Goods and Services?
22. Market Decisions: For Whom to Produce?
23. Market Allocation: How Much to Produce?
24. Distinguishing Primary Sources from Secondary Sources
25. Recording Information Using Graphic Organisers
26. Planning Ethical Research and Inquiry Methods
27. Interpreting Data to Identify Key Trends
28. Identifying Different Perspectives in Information
29. Translating Data Between Different Formats
30. Presenting Research Findings to Different Audiences

Curriculum codes in this unit

Content codes:

Skills codes:

Reading the codes: WA codes (the ones starting with WA) pack the year level, learning area, strand and content number into one string, while the national Australian Curriculum v9 uses a different anatomy that starts with AC9 — same content family, different labels. Our complete WA Curriculum guide decodes both, character by character.

Planning notes for Term 3

WA terms run roughly 9–11 weeks, and in 2026 Term 3 runs from Monday 20 July to Friday 25 September — 10 weeks for WA public schools. With 30 lessons in this unit, that leaves breathing room for assessment, moderation and the weeks that disappear to carnivals, camps and public holidays — plan the assessable work to land two to three weeks before the end of term rather than in the final week.