Since 1995, the Queensland Department of Education has run a program of school constitutional conventions each year. The conventions educate senior secondary students about the Australian Constitution and how it guides our democracy. They involve students from all 3 sectors—state, Catholic and independent.
The Queensland Schools Constitutional Convention (QSCC) is an annual, statewide initiative that invites students from state, Catholic and independent schools to explore constitutional issues.
Update on the QSCC event 2026
The 2026 QSCC will not proceed as planned due to the unavailability of the Canvas platform. We sincerely appreciate your understanding and support during this time.
The QSCC team is actively exploring alternative platforms to ensure the successful delivery of the convention in 2027.
Please note that the selection process for Queensland students to participate in the convention will continue as scheduled. Detailed information, including updated timelines, can be found below.
Student nominations for the 2027 National Schools Constitutional Convention
Schools are encouraged to nominate one candidate from Year 10 or 11 to present a multimodal speech addressing the chosen constitutional issue for the 2026 QSCC. All candidate presentations will be viewed, and nominated judges will use the provided criteria to determine the delegates to represent Queensland in the
National Schools Constitutional Convention (NSCC) held in 2027.
Note: All student delegates who attend the national convention must be in Year 11 or 12 in 2027.
What you need to know
How to enter
Student nominations for the 2027 NSCC opens on Monday 8 June 2026 and closes Friday 14 August 2026. Schools can nominate their students and submit entries via the official submission portal link below.
Submission portal
2026 constitutional task
Topic: Balanced federalism: High Court use of implied constitutional limitations to invalidate state laws.
Question: Should the High Court apply their constitutional powers to strike down state laws?
Judging criteria
The judging criteria will help students meet the requirements of the student speech submission. Judges will use these criteria to judge the entries and choose the delegates to represent Queensland at the 2027 NSCC.
The criteria is split into 4 categories:
- Comprehending—comprehend concepts, principles and/or processes of Australia's Constitution and the High Court of Australia.
- Researching—locate and select relevant and reliable information from a range of sources to inform an argument.
- Analysing, evaluating and interpreting—analyse, interpret and evaluate perspectives and implications related to the constitutional issue.
- Communicating—create arguments that synthesise evidence from sources to suit the intended purpose.
Download the
task sheet and judging criteria.
Key dates
- Monday 8 June 2026—QSCC student speaker nominations and submissions open
- Friday 14 August 2026—student submissions portal closes at 5pm
- Monday 14 September 2026—announcement of delegates representing Queensland at the 2027 NSCC.
Queensland's delegates to the 2026 National Schools Constitutional Convention
The
2026 NSCC (DOCX, 400KB) was held from Tuesday 24 to Thursday 26 March at the Museum of Australian Democracy in Canberra. Delegates were selected from the following schools to represent Queensland:
- Albany Creek State High School
- Annandale Christian College
- Brisbane School of Distance Education
- Cairns State High School
- Heatley Secondary College
- King's Christian College
- Lourdes Hill College
- Mackay Northern Beaches State High School
- Mansfield State High School
- Marsden State High School
- Northern Beaches State High School
- Pimlico State High School
- Redbank Plains State High School
- Redlynch State College
- Rivermount College
- Ryan Catholic College
- St Margaret Mary's College
- St Patrick's College, Townsville
- Tannum Sands State High School
- The Cathedral College, Rockhampton
- Thuringowa State High School
- Wavell State High School
2026 National Schools Constitutional Convention
Contact
If you have any questions or enquiries, please email
K-12Framework@qed.qld.gov.au.