List of Past ISDA Topics

	A	B	C	D
1	List of Past ISDA Topics		Notes from the Chief Adjudicator: - Filter topics by clicking the drop-down boxes - 2016 and 2017 seasons have not yet been added - Topic areas may change and are not indicative of future topic areas of ISDA - Primary = Year 5 and 6; Junior = Year 7 and 8; Intermediate = Year 9 and 10; Senior = Year 11 and 12
2	Topic Area	Age Bracket	Topic	Year
3	Economics	Intermediate	That we should allow emergency workers to strike	2018
4	Economics	Intermediate	That we should allow businesses to fire employees on the basis of personal (legal) online behaviour (e.g. personal Facebook posts)	2018
5	Education	Intermediate	That all university students receiving professional degrees (e.g. medicine, law, veterinary studies) should be required to work in a rural area for 2 years after graduation	2018
6	Education	Intermediate	That all Intermediate, 11, and 12 students should be required to have a part time job	2018
7	Education	Intermediate	That access to public schools should be means tested based on parents' income	2018
8	Education	Intermediate	That schools should be allowed to drug test students	2018
9	Education	Intermediate	That we should abolish the ATAR and all other student rankings	2018
10	Education	Intermediate	That we should have performance pay for teachers	2015
11	Education	Intermediate	That we should close down underperforming schools	2015
12	Education	Intermediate	That we should not separate students into classes on the basis of ability	2014
13	Education	Intermediate	That schools should be allowed to test children for illegal drugs	2013
14	Education	Intermediate	That community service should be compulsory for the School Certificate	2011
15	Education	Intermediate	That school should start later to take into account adolescent sleeping patterns	2011
16	Education	Intermediate	That the government should not publish school league tables	2011
17	Education	Intermediate	That NAPLAN results should not be published.	2010
18	Environment	Intermediate	That we should allow communities to veto resource extraction projects in their local area	2018
19	Environment	Intermediate	That Australia should adopt nuclear power	2018
20	Environment	Intermediate	That we should have an extra tax on mining companies	2015
21	Environment	Intermediate	That we should ban mining projects near the Great Barrier Reef	2014
22	Environment	Intermediate	That the price of water should be increased	2012
23	Environment	Intermediate	That we should allow mining in Antarctica	2012
24	Environment	Intermediate	That Australia should introduce a carbon tax.	2011
25	Environment	Intermediate	That nuclear energy is the future of electricity generation in Australia	2011
26	Environment	Intermediate	That the government should establish a natural disaster fund	2011
27	Environment	Intermediate	That we should make corporations responsible for the disposal of their products	2011
28	Gender	Intermediate	That we should ban the advertising of makeup and beauty products	2018
29	Gender	Intermediate	That women should pay lower rates of tax than men	2015
30	Gender	Intermediate	That feminists should publicly condemn female public figures who return to abusive partners	2014
31	Gender	Intermediate	That parents should not be allowed to choose the gender or race of an adoptive child	2013
32	Gender	Intermediate	That air brushing in fashion magazines should be banned.	2010
33	Gender	Intermediate	That we should offer tax cuts for companies with female executives.	2010
34	Government and Society	Intermediate	That children should be forced to support their parents in their old age.	2013
35	Government and Society	Intermediate	That we should use mandatory offshore detention to deter people smuggling	2012
36	Government and Society	Intermediate	That cigarettes should be made illegal.	2010
37	Government and Society	Intermediate	That we should have a national "Sorry Day".	2010
38	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should legalise the torture of terrorists to obtain national security intelligence	2015
39	International Relations	Intermediate	That the government should actively intervene to save Australians sentenced to death overseas	2015
40	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should ban out-sourcing of clinical testing on humans to the developing world	2018
41	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should tie development aid to the women’s rights record of recipient countries	2018
42	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should not assist police in countries that have the death penalty for drug related offences	2014
43	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should only give development aid to democracies	2013
44	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should only give development aid to democracies.	2013
45	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should not cut its defence budget to achieve a return to surplus	2012
46	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australian tourists should not travel to countries which abuse the human rights of their citizens	2012
47	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australian tourists should not travel to countries which abuse the human rights of their citizens.	2012
48	International Relations	Intermediate	That developed countries should not accept skilled migrants from developing nations	2012
49	International Relations	Intermediate	That developed countries should not accept skilled migrants from developing nations.	2012
50	International Relations	Intermediate	That poverty should be sufficient grounds for asylum	2012
51	International Relations	Intermediate	That there should be no veto power in the UN Security Council	2012
52	International Relations	Intermediate	That there should be no veto power in the UN Security Council.	2012
53	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should form a political union with other South East Asian nations	2012
54	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should form a political union with other South East Asian nations.	2012
55	International Relations	Intermediate	That aid should be tied to human rights targets	2011
56	International Relations	Intermediate	That all asylum seekers applying to Australia should be processed in Australia.	2011
57	International Relations	Intermediate	That it is sometimes justified to limit civil liberties	2011
58	International Relations	Intermediate	That it is sometimes justified to limit civil liberties.	2011
59	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should give dictators immunity in exchange for their resignation	2011
60	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should not send asylum seekers to other countries for processing	2011
61	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should not send asylum seekers to other countries for processing.	2011
62	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should act unilaterally on climate change.	2010
63	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should act unilaterally on climate change.	2010
64	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should stop following the lead of the US	2010
65	International Relations	Intermediate	That Australia should stop following the lead of the US.	2010
66	International Relations	Intermediate	That the Australian Government should increase its foreign aid.	2010
67	International Relations	Intermediate	That the Australian government should increase its foreign aid.	2010
68	International Relations	Intermediate	That the US should destroy its nuclear arsenal.	2010
69	International Relations	Intermediate	That the US should destroy its nuclear arsenal.	2010
70	International Relations	Intermediate	That we need to do more for asylum seekers.	2009
71	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should leave Iraq.	2009
72	International Relations	Intermediate	That we should no pay ransoms to pirates.	2009
73	International Relations	Intermediate	That Indonesia should not use the death penalty on Australian citizens.	2008
74	International Relations	Intermediate	That the export of live animals should be banned.	2008
75	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should allow prisoners to volunteer for drug trials in exchange for a lighter sentence	2015
76	Law & Order	Intermediate	That the government should be obliged to provide jobs to unemployed ex-prisoners	2015
77	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should privatise prisons	2015
78	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should give automatic reductions to prison sentences received by disadvantaged minority groups	2015
79	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should hold CEOs criminally responsible for environmental damage caused by their companies	2015
80	Law & Order	Intermediate	This we should, with the consent of victims, allow first-time offenders to pay compensation to the victims in place of a prison sentence	2014
81	Law & Order	Intermediate	That crimes committed by police officers should be punished more severely than if they were committed by persons other than police officers	2013
82	Law & Order	Intermediate	That criminals should not receive lighter punishments in exchange for early guilty pleas	2013
83	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should abolish trial by jury	2013
84	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should offer amnesties to gang members who testify against other gang members	2013
85	Law & Order	Intermediate	That non-violent offenders should never be sent to prison	2012
86	Law & Order	Intermediate	That Australia should have a bill of rights	2011
87	Law & Order	Intermediate	That criminals should not be permitted to publish accounts of their crimes.	2011
88	Law & Order	Intermediate	That jury trials should be abolished	2011
89	Law & Order	Intermediate	That convicted criminals should pay compensation to their victims	2010
90	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should ban TV programmes that glorify crime	2010
91	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should decriminalise recreational drugs.	2010
92	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should not allow employers to view or ask for the criminal records of prospective employees	2018
93	Law & Order	Intermediate	That parents should be held responsible for the crimes of their children	2018
94	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should televise criminal trials	2018
95	Law & Order	Intermediate	That we should allow citizen initiated referenda (citizen initiated referenda are votes on policy or law initiated by a certain number of citizens signing a petition)	2018
96	Law & Order	Intermediate	That juries (rather than judges) should sentence convicted criminals	2018
97	Law & Order	Intermediate	That law enforcement agencies should be allowed to monitor any electronic communication	2018
98	Media	Intermediate	That no one should be allowed to post on the internet anonymously	2015
99	Media	Intermediate	That the government should not provide funding to Australian film and TV	2015
100	Media	Intermediate	That children under 16 should be prevented from using their real names online	2014