Accounting is the process of recording, reporting, analysing and interpreting financial data and accounting information which plays an integral role in the successful operation and management of businesses.
This unit focuses on small service businesses. Students will learn how to interpret source documents, record transaction in special journals, prepare accounting reports such as the Balance Sheet, Income Statement and Cash Flow Statement, and provide strategic advice on how to improve business performance. They will also learn about different sources of finance available to start up a business, different legal business structures and the motivations for starting a business, as well as the essential accounting elements and the accounting equation.
This unit extends accounting to a trading business. Students focus on managing inventory, including the use of inventory cards, processing transactions relating to inventory, and strategies to improve the management and protection of inventory. Students then look at ways to better manage Accounts Payable and Accounts Receivable. Finally, students focus on how to manage Non-Current Assets, including the concept of depreciation.
This unit builds on knowledge of accounting for a trading business to seeing accounting as a source of business information. Students learn to use the General Journal, the General Ledger and Inventory Cards to interpret and record a range of financial transactions, and are then able to prepare and analyse accounting reports.
This unit builds on the recording and reporting developed in Unit 3, and introduces students to more complex tarnsactions including prepaid expenses, accrual expenses, unearned revenues and prepaid revenues. Students also explore budgeting, and how budgeted accounting reports can be used to evaluate business performance.
VCE Business Management examines the ways in which people at various levels within a business organisation manage resources to achieve the objectives of the organisation. Students develop an understanding of the complexity, challenges and rewards that come from business management and gain an insight into the various ways resources can be managed in small, medium and large-scale organisations.
Businesses of all sizes are major contributors to the economic and social wellbeing of a nation. The ability of entrepreneurs to establish a business and the fostering of conditions under which new business ideas can emerge are vital for a nation’s wellbeing. Taking a business idea and planning how to make it a reality are the cornerstones of economic and social development. In this unit students explore the factors affecting business ideas and the internal and external environments within which businesses operate, as well as the effect of these on planning a business. They also consider the importance of the business sector to the national economy and social wellbeing.
This unit focuses on the establishment phase of a business. Establishing a business involves compliance with legal requirements as well as decisions about how best to establish a system of financial record keeping, staff the business and establish a customer base. In this unit students examine the legal requirements that must be met to establish a business. They investigate the essential features of effective marketing and consider the best way to meet the needs of the business in terms of staffing and financial record keeping. Students analyse management practices by applying key knowledge to contemporary business case studies from the past four years.
In this unit students explore the key processes and considerations for managing a business efficiently and effectively to achieve business objectives. Students examine different types of businesses and their respective objectives and stakeholders. They investigate strategies to manage both staff and business operations to meet objectives, and develop an understanding of the complexity and challenge of managing businesses. Students compare theoretical perspectives with current practice through the use of contemporary Australian and global business case studies from the past four years.
Businesses are under constant pressure to adapt and change to meet their objectives. In this unit students consider the importance of reviewing key performance indicators to determine current performance and the strategic management necessary to position a business for the future. Students study a theoretical model to undertake change and consider a variety of strategies to manage change in the most efficient and effective way to improve business performance. They investigate the importance of effective management and leadership in change management. Using one or more contemporary business case studies from the past four years, students evaluate business practice against theory.
History is a dynamic discipline that involves structured inquiry into the human actions, forces and conditions (social, political, economic, cultural, environmental and technological) that have shaped the past and present. To make meaning of the past, historians use historical sources, which include primary sources and historical interpretations. Historians analyse and evaluate evidence and use this when constructing historical arguments. As historians ask new questions, revise interpretations, or discover new sources, fresh understandings about the past come to light.
In this unit, students investigate the nature of social, political, economic and cultural change in the later part of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century. Modern History provides students with an opportunity to explore the significant events, ideas, individuals and movements that shaped the social, political, economic and technological conditions and developments that have defined the modern world.
In this Unit, students investigate the nature and impact of the Cold War and challenges and changes to social, political and economic structures and systems of power in the second half of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century.
In Units 3 (French Revolutions) and 4 (Chinese Revolutions) students investigate the significant historical causes and consequences of political revolution. Revolutions represent great ruptures in time and are a major turning point in the collapse and destruction of an existing political order which results in extensive change to society. Revolutions are caused by the interplay of events, ideas, individuals and popular movements, and the interplay between the political, social, cultural, economic and environmental conditions. Their consequences have a profound effect on the political and social structures of the post-revolutionary society. Revolution is a dramatically accelerated process whereby the new regime attempts to create political, social, cultural and economic change and transformation based on the regime’s ideology.
VCE Politics is the study of contemporary power, conflict and cooperation in a world that is characterised by unpredictability and constant change. In this study students investigate contemporary issues of conflict, political stability and/or change within Australia, the Indo-Pacific region and globally. They consider how national and global political actors respond to issues and crises such as national political reform, climate change, violent conflicts, human rights, sustainability and development, inequality and global economic instability. Students analyse the sources and forms of power available to these political actors and the consequences of their use. Students consider how political actors pursue their interests and the political significance of their actions in responding to national and global issues and crises. Throughout this study, students examine Australia’s place in the region and globally.
Students consider the concept of power by examining why and how political power is used, with special attention to the way national and global political actors exercise power and the consequences of that use. Students examine how power may be used by political actors in various states to achieve their interests, and they focus on a close study of a contested political issue in Australia. Students then investigate the power of global actors, who are able to use power across national and regional boundaries to achieve their interests and cooperate with other actors to solve conflicts, issues and crises.
In this unit, students investigate the key principles of democracy and assess the degree to which these principles are expressed, experienced and challenged, in Australia and internationally. They consider democratic principles in the Australian context and complete an in-depth study of a political issue or crisis that inherently challenges basic democratic ideas or practice. Students also investigate the degree to which global political actors and trends can challenge, inhibit or undermine democracy, and evaluate the political significance of these challenges. Each area of study focuses on concepts that form essential disciplinary knowledge, and which allow students to gradually build on their understanding of what it is to think politically.
In this unit, students investigate an issue and a crisis that pose challenges to the global community. Students begin with an investigation into an issue of global scale, such as climate change, global economic instability, the issue of development or weapons of mass destruction. Students also examine the causes and consequences of a humanitarian crisis that may have begun in one state but which has crossed over into neighbouring states and requires an emergency response. This crisis must be chosen from the areas of human rights, armed conflict and the mass movement of people. They consider the causes of these issues and crises, and investigate their consequences on a global level and for a variety of global actors.
In this unit, students investigate the strategic competition for power and influence in the Indo-Pacific region. They consider the interests and perspectives of global actors within the region, including the challenges to regional cooperation and stability. Building on their study of global issues and contemporary crises in Unit 3, students develop their understanding of power and national interests through an in-depth examination of one state’s perspectives, interests and actions. Students must choose one state from the People’s Republic of China, Japan, the Republic of India, the Republic of Indonesia or the United States of America. Students also examine Australia’s strategic interests and actions in the region and consider how Australia’s responses to regional issues and crises may have contributed to political stability and/or change. They do this within the context of Australia’s relationships with one Pacific Island state and two other regional states.
Legal Studies examines the institutions and principles which are essential to Australia’s legal system. Students develop an understanding of the rule of law, law-makers, key legal institutions, rights protection in Australia, and the justice system.
Students develop an understanding of legal foundations, such as the different types and sources of law and the existence of a court hierarchy in Victoria. Students investigate key concepts of criminal law and civil law and apply these to actual and hypothetical scenarios to determine whether an accused may be found guilty of a crime, or liable in a civil dispute. This develops an appreciation of how legal principles and information are used in making reasoned judgments.
Criminal law and civil law aim to protect the rights of individuals. When rights are infringed, a case or dispute may arise which needs to be determined or resolved, and sanctions or remedies may be imposed. This unit focuses on the enforcement of criminal law and civil law, the methods and institutions that may be used to determine a criminal case or resolve a civil dispute, and the purposes and types of sanctions and remedies and their effectiveness. Students undertake a detailed investigation of two criminal cases and two civil cases from the past four years to form a judgment about the ability of sanctions and remedies to achieve the principles of justice. Students develop their understanding of the way rights are protected in Australia and in another country, and possible reforms to the protection of rights. They examine a significant case in relation to the protection of rights in Australia.
The Victorian justice system, which includes the criminal and civil justice systems, aims to protect the rights of individuals and uphold the principles of justice: fairness, equality and access. In this unit students examine the methods and institutions in the justice system and consider their appropriateness in determining criminal cases and resolving civil disputes. Students consider the Magistrates’ Court, County Court and Supreme Court within the Victorian court hierarchy, as well as other Victorian legal institutions and bodies available to assist with cases. Students explore matters such as the rights available to an accused and to victims in the criminal justice system, the roles of the judge, jury, legal practitioners and the parties, and the ability of sanctions and remedies to achieve their purposes. Students investigate the extent to which the principles of justice are upheld in the justice system. They discuss recent reforms from the past four years and recommended reforms to enhance the ability of the justice system to achieve the principles of justice. Throughout this unit, students apply legal reasoning and information to actual and/or hypothetical scenarios
The study of Australia’s laws and legal system involves an understanding of institutions that make and reform our laws, and the relationship between the Australian people, the Australian Constitution and law-making bodies. In this unit, students explore how the Australian Constitution establishes the law-making powers of the Commonwealth and state parliaments, and protects the Australian people through structures that act as a check on parliament in law-making. Students develop an understanding of the significance of the High Court in protecting and interpreting the Australian Constitution. They investigate parliament and the courts, and the relationship between the two in law-making, and consider the roles of the individual, the media and law reform bodies in influencing law reform. Throughout this unit, students apply legal reasoning and information to actual scenarios.
Philosophy grapples with some of the most profound questions, such as: What is the nature of reality? Is it possible to attain absolute certainty about anything? Are right and wrong simply matters of culture? Is it rational to have religious beliefs?
Philosophy provides students with the opportunity to read and understand some of the powerful ideas that have shaped our culture. This subject introduces students to methods of philosophical argument and analysis, and their application to contemporary issues.
Studies in philosophy complement subject across the VCE, interrogating underlying premises and connections between related fields. The key knowledge and skills fostered by philosophy also provide excellent preparation for any future career, whether in science or law, business or the arts. Experts in any field will inevitably confront philosophical questions.
Students engage with fundamental philosophical problems through active, guided investigation, and critical discussion of two key areas of philosophy: epistemology and metaphysics. The emphasis is on the study and practice of the distinctive nature of philosophical thinking, including techniques of logic. As students learn to think philosophically, appropriate examples of philosophical viewpoints and arguments, are used to support, stimulate and enhance their thinking about central concepts and problems. Students investigate relevant debates in applied epistemology and metaphysics, and consider whether the philosophical bases of these debates continue to have relevance in contemporary society and our everyday lives.
What are the foundations of our judgments about value? What is the relationship between different types of value? How, if at all, can particular value judgments be defended or criticised?
This unit enables students to explore these questions in relation to different categories of value judgment within the realms of morality, political and social philosophy and aesthetics. Students also explore ways in which viewpoints and arguments in value theory can inform and be informed by contemporary debates. They study at least one primary philosophical text, using the complete text or an extract, and develop a range of skills including formulating philosophical questions and developing philosophical perspectives.
This unit considers the crucial question of what it is for a human to live well. What does an understanding of human nature tell us about what it is to live well? What is the role of happiness in a well lived life? Is morality central to a good life? How does our social context impact on our conception of a good life?
This unit focuses on interpersonal aspects of belief and belief formation, considering what it means to believe well by examining the nature of belief and the grounds for accepting or rejecting beliefs. Across 2 areas of study, students explore what our obligations are in relation to belief; when we should adjust or change our beliefs; and to what extent we should take responsibility for fostering the good beliefs of others and the conditions that make them possible. Through so doing, students are invited to consider the interrelationship between believing well and living well.