Module 2: Contemporary Social Issues

5 dot points, in syllabus order. Each dot point has a focused answer, with exam-style questions and worked answers where available.

How do we analyse a contemporary social issue fairly?

Explain how to identify and analyse a contemporary social issue, including stakeholders, perspectives and the use of evidence.

How to define a contemporary social issue, identify stakeholders and competing perspectives, weigh different types of evidence, and reach a balanced analysis, using current Australian examples such as housing and climate.

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How does power operate in contemporary societies?

Analyse how power and authority operate through social structures and institutions, and how this produces inequality in Australian society.

How power and authority operate through institutions, the difference between power and authority, sources of social inequality such as class, gender and race, and how power structures shape contemporary Australian society.

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What makes authority legitimate and how is political power exercised and limited?

Analyse the sources of legitimate authority, how political power is exercised through the state, and how it is held accountable in Australian society.

The difference between power and authority, Weber's types of legitimate authority, how political power is exercised through the state, and how accountability and checks limit power in Australia.

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How do ideology and perspective shape the way social issues are defined and debated?

Analyse how ideologies, values and competing perspectives shape the way contemporary social issues are defined, framed and debated in Australian society.

What ideology is, how values and worldviews shape the framing of social issues, the role of competing perspectives and bias, and how the same issue is constructed differently by different groups in Australia.

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Why does inequality persist and how does disadvantage become entrenched?

Analyse the forms, causes and consequences of social inequality and disadvantage in contemporary Australian society.

The forms of social inequality including class, wealth, location and access, how disadvantage becomes structural and intergenerational, and the consequences for individuals and Australian society.

6 min read →