3 benefits of planning a trip to Canberra the PACER way

In April 2024, we travelled to Canberra for a PACER tour and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We enjoyed three benefits of following PACER guidelines to make our trip worthwhile.

You might ask: What is PACER? PACER stands for the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate. It is a government civics initiative designed to encourage all registered Australian school children to visit Canberra as part of a school group and the amount of PACER is rebated according to how far the school is located from Canberra.

Importantly, PACER does not discriminate between mainstream schools or registered homeschoolers, so we were able to enjoy the benefits of PACER just like any other student who goes on their Canberra excursions with their school group.

3 benefits of planning a trip to Canberra the PACER way

First Benefit: Subsidised travel. Being from Bunbury WA, we were eligible for the highest tier of rebate rate (3000+km). Plus, in 2024 the government allocated a 50% loading on all PACER funding. As I applied for PACER for 4 out of my 5 children at the time (Years 4-12 are eligible), the total payment helped to pay for our flights and accommodation.

Second benefit: It opened up opportunities for us to book school tours at government institutions which would not have been available to the general public.

Third benefit: Programmes and guided tours we booked were geared towards  school-aged learners learning about parliament and democracy, helping schools and homeschools to learn HASS topics in Civics and Citizenship on-site in Canberra.

To qualify for the payment as homeschoolers, we needed to:

1. Study a unit about Parliament, Canberra and/or elections
2. Book and confirm a visit to at least 3 out of 4 mandatory institutions in Canberra
3. Register for PACER (with proof of bookings and an itinerary) at least 3 weeks prior to the trip
4. Be present at the booked visits and be marked off the roll at each site
5. Advertise PACER by presenting a short article in our local homeschool FB group.
6. Submit post-trip paperwork within six weeks after the conclusion of your trip to claim the payment.

Tips for Homeschoolers planning a PACER trip to Canberra:

1. Book early! Some Institutions book up pretty quickly, especially during the winter months when schools traditionally plan a trip to Canberra with a ski trip. I made bookings for April when we booked our flights in December.
2. I used Simply Homeschool’s Introduction to Australian Government – a PACER-eligible mini core. The Core is an. introduction to Parliament and very interactive for the kids, with videos linked from the (Parliament education unit) and worksheets on both Upper and Lower Houses, stories of the history of how Parliament started, how elections work, and a handy glossary to create to learn more from.
3. I had this National Teachers Capital Pass but totally forgot to use it while I was in Canberra!
4. For our trip, I managed to make bookings at all four mandatory institutions, and still had time to visit one or two other alternative institutions.
5. During the Parliament House guided tour, we were given access to rooms, chambers and viewing areas usually open to journalists and media and not the general public. It was awesome walking through the same halls that the nations MPs gather to debate and pass Bills and laws of the country. As Parliament was not sitting that day, we were not able to meet with our local sitting MP (which usually happens on sitting days). We were also unable to book a PEO tour, given that our homeschool group was much less than their minimum of 30 students.
6. The best excursion was at the National Electoral Education Centre by the Australian Electoral Commission. Three excellent and engaging presentations: first one to learn the history of democracy and voting in Australia, second electronic-based on how electoral constituencies are planned, and a live demonstration of the voting process during elections. The kids enjoyed themselves and rated it the the best one. If you had to choose between MoAD or NEEC, this would be my pick.
7. Unfortunately we did not enjoy the excursion we picked for MoAD @ Old Parliament House, perhaps beacause the topic of media (Behind the Lines 2023) wasn’t as familiar to my students? The Old Parliament House itself however is still worth a visit, it is very well maintained as a museum and we spent a few hours enjoying the various exhibitions, including a replica of the British Crown Jewels.
8. We really enjoyed our school excursion to the Australian War Memorial on the last day of our visit. Unfortunately for us, the school tour was a bit too short for the sheer amount of exhibits in the War Memorial, and though we would’ve liked to have gone for a second visit it was already our last day! So definitely plan to have another visit at the Australian War Memorial.
9. I booked a home through AirBnB, and rented a car from Canberra Airport.
10. Other places we visited included Questacon (can use Scitech membership to visit for a reduced cost or free), National Arboretum, Australian Institute of Sport, and drives up to the Telstra Tower on Black Mountain, and Mt Ainslie during the day and during the evening. We also enjoyed visiting Dickson, Fyshwick Fresh Food Markets, Canberra Glassworks, and a brief visit to a quirky little cafe in Queanbeyan for the kids to practice piano!
11. If we had more time, I would plan a visit to AWM (again), hike down Black Mountain to the Botanical Garden, hike up or down Mt Ainslie, visit the National Museum.