Here at CEFA we are having difficulty believing another year has flown by. Much of our work in recent months has been finalising the proposal to establish an Australian Constitution Centre. The proposed collaborations are with iconic Australian institutions such as the Museum of Australian Democracy (MoAD) at Old Parliament House (OPH), National Archives of Australia (NAA) and Education Services Australia (ESA). It is also proposed that the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) will work with us for five years to help us evaluate and measure the desired improvements in attitudes towards, engagement with, and knowledge of our great Australian Constitution and the system of government that operates under it. The proposal is now with Senator the Honourable George Brandis QC, Attorney-General.

On Wednesday, 3 December, we celebrated at NAA the tenth anniversary of CEFA projects in schools. Unfortunately the Prime Minister of Australia, the Honourable Tony Abbott MP who was to deliver our keynote address, had to attend the funeral of Phillip Hughes in Macksville. However Minister Brandis read the Prime Minister’s keynote speech which is published on the Attorney-General's Website.

On 10 February, 2015, we shall celebrate another CEFA milestone: the tenth year of CEFA’s Governor-General’s Prize. This will be celebrated with a cocktail reception to be held in the Great Hall of the High Court of Australia, Canberra. His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd), Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia will be the guest of honour and will present the prizes to this year’s finalists. The Chief Justice and all Justices of the High Court of Australia are also honouring CEFA through their attendance. We would like as many CEFA supporters as possible to attend. To register for this event, please email acurran@cefa.org.au or call 1800 009 855.

On behalf of the CEFA Board of Directors, and the CEFA staff, we wish you and your family a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year. Thank you for your support which we greatly appreciate and which has prepared us for our 2015 projects. We have much work to do to reverse the downward trends in engagement and knowledge on Australians of all ages with our democracy.

Yours in Educating for Democracy

Mrs Kerry Jones
Chief Executive Officer, CEFA