SubjectNest resource library

Development draft · local review needed

Day 9 · Customary law and whose voice is missingYear 11 Legal Studies · T1 W1–2 · Day 9 lesson

Prepare this lesson

Year 11 / Legal Studies / Term 1 / Weeks 01 02

Part of the full two-week lesson sequence. Check the pack guide and taught point before teaching.

Open for this lesson: Pack guide · Daily routes · Worked swaps · Fresh learner checks · Aids and text routes.

Download full sequence

Teacher copy: This page may include teaching prompts or answer keys. Answer keys in this public library can be viewed by anyone. Give learners a clean prompt, use checks as formative evidence, and change a case locally when prior access matters.

Learner prompts

Target: analyse the limits of a historic institutional source on Aboriginal customary law and make a defensible next-source choice. Prepare: Card G; source ladder and fairness lens.

  1. Launch · 2 min. Ask whether a 1986 government report can speak for every First Nations community today. Key: no.
  2. Model · 4 min. Paraphrase Card G accurately: many distinct, living Aboriginal customary laws; uneven legal recognition; community authority in consultation. Name what the report is (historic ALRC analysis) and what it is not (a living local voice). Do not invent a cultural practice or ask students to represent a community.
  3. Guided reading · 5 min. Split a claim into “the report stated”, “current legal recognition to verify” and “community perspective absent”. Identify possible consequences of treating the first as if it answered all three.
  4. Practice route · 7 min. Select Day 9 route. Write two viewpoints with who holds authority to speak, one consequence and a next source: contemporary community-approved material plus current legislation/judgment for a specific legal question.
  5. Audit · 4 min. Reject both “there is one Aboriginal customary law” and “Australian courts always apply it”. Preserve nuance and date.
  6. Exit · 3 min. “Who should decide whether a particular community's law may be taught in detail?” Key: the appropriate people/community with informed partnership and protocol, not this card.