Year 5

Round 1: That cats are better than dogs.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 2: That trampolines for children are a good idea.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 3: That teachers should not give lollies as a reward to students.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 4: That hot cross buns should be sold all year.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 5: That Santa should slim down.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Year 6/7

Round 1: That schools should ban mullets.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 2: That schools should have a dog to reduce stress in the classroom. (see link)

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 3: That we should be able to keep native animals as pets. (see link)

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 4: That SA should adopt the former East German Ampelmann as a traffic signal at pedestrian crossings.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Round 5: That Father Christmas has a harder job than the Easter Bunny

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Quarter Final: That self serve at supermarkets is a good idea

Arrive 30 minutes before for team photos. Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Semi Final: That the Government should tell the public if there are aliens.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Grand Final: That Australian primary school students should have compulsory music lessons.

Speeches of 3 minutes; warning bell at 2 minutes.

Year 8

Round 1: That teachers should allow students to call them by their first names.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Round 2: That traffic fines should be based on income.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Round 3: That single sex schools are better than co-ed schools.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Round 4: That private schools should be abolished.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Round 5: That the Cooper's Hill Cheese Rolling and Wake should be banned.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Quarter Final: That there should be a mandatory retirement age for politicians.

Arrive 30 minutes before for team photos. Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Semi Final: That Warner Bros should give up the DCEU.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Grand Final: That cyborg technology should be the next frontier of human evolution.

Speeches of 4 minutes; warning bell at 3 minutes.

Year 9

Round 1: That rewrites of Roald Dahl’s books is unacceptable.

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Round 2: That Elon Musk unblocking people on Twitter is a good idea.

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Round 3: That students at South Australian schools who hate PE should be able to help people do yard work instead. (see link)

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Round 4: That defacing works of art is an unacceptable form of protest. (see link)

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Round 5: That the Victorian Government's decision to cancel the Commomwealth Games was a good idea.

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Quarter Final: That "Influencers" are detrimental to society.

Arrive 30 minutes before for team photos. Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Semi Final: That New Zealand should become the 7th state of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Grand Final: That the ACT's decision to reduce penalties for the personal use of drugs is a good idea.

Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Year 10

Round 1: That the SA Police change to dress standards is a good idea (see link)

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Round 2: That composting bodies (Natural Organic Reduction) for burial is disrespectful.

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Round 3: That the South Australian Parliament’s response to the recent Extinction Rebellion protest is a bad move.

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Round 4: That we should inoculate people against depression and trauma. (see link)

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Round 5: Short Preparation Debate

The Short Preparation Topic will be released 90 minutes before the scheduled debate. View guidelines here
Speeches of 5 minutes; warning bell at 4 minutes.

Quarter Final: That the merger of The University of Adelaide and UniSA is a good idea.

Arrive 30 minutes before for team photos. Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Semi Final: That Australia should adopt "15 minute cities."

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Grand Final: That we should incentivise women to have children.

Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Senior

Round 1: That we should change the Australian Constitution to enable an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Prepared Debate Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Round 2: That Australia should introduce a Universal Basic Income Scheme. (see link)

Prepared Debate Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Round 3: That we should reject the push of the World Economic Forum to eat insects.

Prepared Debate Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Round 4: Short Preparation Debate

The Short Preparation Topic will be released 90 minutes before the scheduled debate. View guidelines here
Speeches of 6 minutes; warning bell at 5 minutes.

Quarter Final: That Italy's ban on lab-grown meat is a good idea.

Arrive 30 minutes before for team photos. Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Semi Final: That we should bring manufacturing back to Australia.

Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Grand Final: That in light of recent events, the Government should re-nationalise Qantas.

Speeches of 8 minutes; warning bell at 7 minutes.

Special Formats of Prepared Debates

Quodlibetical Topic

There are a number of issues that can’t be easily expressed in a one-line topic. Therefore you have been given a fictitious scenario, outlined by a few paragraphs, and a topic that is based on this scenario. The following should be noted:

1. The first speaker should not attempt to define the topic word for word, but rather should define the issue(s) or dilemma(s) that the topic presents.

2. It is this issue or dilemma that should be debated in an attempt to prove whichever side of the topic, i.e. feel free to debate the particular issue generally, but be sure to link it back to the topic as this is what you want to argue for or against.

3. There is no need for the first speaker to read out the initial paragraphs as the Chairman will do this before announcing the topic, however, any speaker may refer to these paragraphs as part of his/her argument.

4. Debaters are welcome and are encouraged to conduct further research on the issues presented but note that the scenario itself is often fictitious.

View the 2024 topics here.