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Tax 101 Interactive - Shaping the system Years 7-10

SPENDING

Spending – Australian GovernmentSo, what happens to all this money?

The Australian Government distributes around one-third of all the tax it collects directly to the state and territory governments in grants and subsidies. Another third of Australian Government taxes is spent each year on social security and welfare payments, giving a direct personal benefit to households. The remainder is used by the Australian Government to directly fund services such as health, education and our defence forces.

Let's examine how some of this revenue is put to use:

Fact sheetExplore Australia’s three levels of government, how they source their income and their major items of expenditure.

Australia's taxation system consists of three levels: Australian, state and territory, and local.

Although there are as many as 125 different taxes, they boil down to about 10 common taxes and most people will only have to pay a few of those.

TAX COLLECTION

Tax collection – Australian GovernmentSo how is revenue collected?

The Australian Government collects over 80% of all tax revenue. This comes from nearly 100 different taxes. But only three of these account for about two-thirds of all the tax collected in Australia:

� income tax for individuals � the goods and services tax � company tax.

Tax collection – state and territory governmentsAt the state and territory level, around 50% of their revenue comes as grants from the Australian Government. Some of these grants are for specific purposes, like shared funding to build a new highway or a hospital, while the rest is added to general revenue.

State and territory governments top up their reserves with around 25 different taxes, including charges on property, payroll taxes and fees for the provision of services.

Tax collection – local governmentsAt the local level, 80% of local government tax revenue comes from rates paid by property owners. This is the only local government tax. It creates 4% of the total tax collected in Australia. Local governments are also dependent on grants, receiving almost 20% of their tax revenue in grants from the Australian and state and territory governments.

Federal funding flies high: If you drive across the Nullarbor, you'll be reminded repeatedly of Australia's health system – the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) has landing strips built on the Eyre Highway for its emergency use. The Australian Government funds the RFDS, which conducts over 12,000 remote clinics and cares for over 200,000 patients annually. On average around 35,000 people require the RFDS emergency medical evacuation services each year. The RFDS could not carry out this critically important work each year without funding from the Australian Government.

THE AUSTRALIAN TAXATION SYSTEM

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Spending – state and territory governmentsThe state and territory governments also put their money to good

use. They provide grants and subsidies to local governments, provide

services such as building and maintaining social housing projects,

looking after our roads, and helping to fund our public health system.

Let's examine how some of this revenue is put to use:

Buying bricks and mortar: Of the seven million dwellings in

Australia, around 400,000 of them are social housing. That's

almost 6% of all of Australia's dwellings – so you probably

know someone benefiting from a state or territory government's

funding of social housing. This funding enables housing

support for many Australians, helping to provide them with

affordable accommodation that is matched to their household

needs. Almost 60% of the people assisted by social housing

are receiving either a government age pension or a disability

support pension.

State and territory governments also fund around half of the

cost of the Australian education system. About $41 billion every

year. That's a lot of investment!

Spending – local governmentsCloser to home, local governments use the rates paid by property owners, combined with the grants and subsidies they receive from the Australian and state and territory governments, to fund a range of services throughout your neighbourhood. Local councils also help to fund transportation and infrastructure. This includes around $4 billion each year to build and maintain roads. Let's examine how some of this revenue is put to use:

Roads through revenue: Australians have been building, improving and repairing roads since our very first road construction began in Sydney in May 1788. However, it might surprise you to discover that the first road between Western Australia and South Australia wasn't built until 1941, or that Perth didn't have a set of traffic signals until 1953. Local roads make up 85% of Australia's vast 800,000-kilometre road network. Maintaining this infrastructure is a huge undertaking that costs local governments around $4 billion each year.

Tax working for you and your communityAustralians can have a say in how taxation revenue is spent. In Australia we elect Australian Governments every three years, our state and territory governments at least every four years and our local governments every four years.Issues such as taxation policies, government revenue and budgets are among the wide range of issues we consider when we vote. Your vote shows who you believe will best serve your community.

So why not take a look around the neighbour-hood and see how your taxes are working for

you..

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Worksheet

Years 7-10

YOU WILL: � analyse the purpose and design features of infographics � design and create an infographic that shows how

governments source and spend funds in the community � research and reference sources of information and data

YOU WILL NEED: � Fact Sheet: Interactive - Shaping the system - The

Australian taxation system

THE AUSTRALIAN TAXATION SYSTEM Tax 101 Interactive Shaping the system

TAP INTO PRIOR KNOWLEDGE

Explore infographics1. Think, pair, share: What is an infographic?

Analyse2. Compare your answer to this definition:

3. Locate and compare an infographic with some found by your peers. Discuss:

� Through what media is the infographic communicated? � Who is the intended audience? � What are the key messages? � What features promote the key messages? � Does the infographic share complex information in a concise, easily understood, eye-catching way? � How effective is the infographic in your opinion?

CREATE AN INFOGRAPHIC4. Understand your task. Use a design process to create an infographic:

� Your purpose is show (a) how the three levels of government are funded in Australia and (b) how they spend their funds. � Your audience is the Australian public.

5. To do this, you will research:

� facts and statistics � use Fact Sheet: Interactive - Shaping the system - The Australian taxation system � research other sources, for example, the Australian Bureau of Statistics. �

Where have you come upon infographics?

What is the purpose of an infographic?

What are the text features of an infographic?

Display your sample infographics around the

room for future inspiration.

An infographic makes complex information easily understood through a visual representation of data and images that is concise, eye-catching and easily shared. Infographics use images, brief text and often statistics.

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EVALUATE7. Present and share designs. Justify your design choices. Seek and offer feedback using the criteria list.

REFLECT8. Refer back to your notes at the start of the module about what you know about tax and your value for knowing about it.

Write some reflections about the change in your knowledge and attitude about the role of tax.

With a partner, discuss what you conclude about your learning in this module.

What is my challenge?

How do I research it?

What are my initial ideas?

What does the research show?

What am I thinking?

What are others thinking?

What ideas do I have?

Which ideas are an opportunity to help my task?

What will I create?

What problems will I have to resolve?

What will my mock-up or prototype be like?

What feedback of my mock-up or prototype can I use to refine my

ideas?

How do I make my infographic?

How will I share my infographic?

How will I explain and justify my design choices?

How effective was my infographic?

Criteria: Your infographic:

� uses a social medium that suits the intended audience and purpose

� communicates complex messages in a concise, eye-grabbing, easy to understand way

� clearly shows from where three levels of government source their funds

� clearly shows how the three levels of government spend their funds

� has references that show sources of factual information.

6. Follow the design process below to create your infographic, ideally using digital resources. Evaluate