Resource
Three Levels of Government – Sort the Services
Connect common public responsibilities with federal, state or territory, and local government. Free one-page A4 activity with educator guidance and checked answers.
Print, solve and discuss
Preview the complete activity page
Download one-page A4 worksheetCheck the preview, printing notes and licence before use.
A practical Australian civics and community activity
Connect common public responsibilities with federal, state or territory, and local government. The printable gives children a specific task, visible response space and enough information to begin without a long educator explanation.
What children do
Write each service under the level that usually has the main responsibility. Then circle one service where levels may work together.
Prepare and facilitate
Materials: Printed worksheet, pencil and optional colouring tools. Allow about two minutes to print and place the page. The activity usually takes 30 minutes.
Frame the list as common examples rather than absolute boundaries. Check local arrangements before adding local examples.
Keep examples fictional. Do not ask children to share household income, access to money, political preferences, addresses or family voting choices.
Answer guide
- Federal: defence, immigration, currency
- State/territory: public hospitals, government schools, police
- Local: local roads, parks, rubbish and recycling services
- Responsibilities can overlap and arrangements vary.
Adapt participation
Simpler way to join: Read the task aloud, complete one example together and allow pointing, moving tokens or dictating instead of writing.
More challenge: Choose one shared community issue and name a useful role for two different levels of government.
Learning opportunities
Look for civic knowledge, sequencing, evidence and respectful community participation. Ask a child to show a match, calculation, sequence or reason; completion alone is not evidence of understanding.
Useful educator prompts
- What information on the page helps you begin?
- How could you check that match, total or sequence?
- Which part is a fact, and which part is a choice or opinion?
Fact-check sources
Printing notes
Print at actual size on A4 paper. The worksheet is ink-friendly and uses simplified diagrams rather than reproductions of banknotes, coins, official ballot papers or government artwork.
