The Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 (ACARA, 2022) was launched in May 2022, after a time of rapid societal alteration including the pandemic, climate change and other unprecedented global events. It is the result of two years of extensive consultation with the mandate to maintain the existing structure whilst refining, realigning, updating and decluttering across all learning areas. Importantly, this process was to be ‘underpinned by the education goals of the Alice Springs (Mparntwe) Education Declaration (2019)’, centralising matters of equity (ACARA, 2020, p. 1).

Version 9 of the curriculum is rolling out at a time when young people across the world are filled with uncertainty, fear and worry. The 2021 Mission Australia survey of young people identified the effects of COVID-19 as their most pressing issue, followed by the environment, and equity and discrimination (Tiller et al., 2021). The same report highlights important differences in health and wellbeing based upon gender and indigeneity. Alongside ongoing social, economic and environmental turbulence is a recognition that young people require different skills beyond content knowledge such as diverse literacies, critical thinking, problem solving, curiosity, creativity, innovation, emotional intelligence, and more, that can be applied in a variety of life and work situations.

In celebration of Social Inclusion Week, join our panel of educational experts as they share their varying perspectives in considering some of the key challenges facing contemporary society and young people, and how a national curriculum could or should respond to these. They will debate the Australian Curriculum Version 9.0 in the context of advancing First Nations education, sustainability and climate change, young people’s health and wellbeing, and inclusion and social justice.