The Australian Curriculum is designed to meet the needs of students by delivering a relevant, contemporary and engaging curriculum that builds on the educational goals of the Melbourne Declaration. The Melbourne Declaration identified three key areas that need to be addressed for the benefit of both individuals and Australia as a whole. In the Australian Curriculum, these have become priorities that provide students with the tools and language to engage with, and better understand, their world at a range of levels. The priorities provide dimensions that will enrich the curriculum through development of considered and focused content that fits naturally within learning areas. They enable the delivery of learning area content at the same time as developing knowledge, understanding and skills relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures, Asia and Australia’s engagement with Asia or sustainability. Incorporation of the priorities will encourage conversations between learning areas and between students, teachers and the wider community.
Cross-curriculum priorities are addressed through learning areas and are identified wherever they are developed or applied in content descriptions. Cross-curriculum priorities are also identified where they offer opportunities to add depth and richness to student learning in content elaborations. They will have a strong but varying presence depending on their relevance to the learning area.
In the Australian Curriculum, the three cross-curriculum priorities are:
