The VCAA study design requires students to identify and justify the current stage of their chosen specific social movement. Stages are drawn from the four-stage model: emergence, coalescence, bureaucratisation, and decline.
This note uses the Australian Marriage Equality Movement as the worked example.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Accurately identifying a movement’s stage requires applying the stage criteria to the movement’s current characteristics — not just its historical peak. A movement that achieved its primary goal will typically be in the decline stage (through success), but may have evolved into a new movement or pivoted to new goals.
The Australian marriage equality movement is most accurately described as having entered the decline stage through success following the passage of the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Act in December 2017.
Evidence of decline through success:
Primary goal achieved: The Marriage Act was amended to allow same-sex couples to marry. The movement’s defining purpose was fulfilled.
Organisational disbanding or pivot: Australian Marriage Equality, the primary campaign organisation, wound down its marriage-focused activities after 2017. Key leaders and staff moved to other causes or positions.
Reduced mass mobilisation: The large-scale marches and rallies that characterised the movement’s coalescence and bureaucratisation stages have not continued at the same scale post-2017.
Integration into mainstream: Marriage equality is now the legal norm; it is no longer a site of active political contestation for the major political parties.
The movement’s success has contributed to a broader LGBTQ+ rights movement that continues:
These emerging causes represent new emergence and coalescence stages of successor movements building on the foundation of the marriage equality victory.
If studying a movement that has not yet succeeded:
| Stage | Indicators |
|---|---|
| Emergence | No formal organisation; scattered grievance; raising awareness phase |
| Coalescence | Organised campaigns; leadership; clear goals; growing public visibility |
| Bureaucratisation | Professional staff; formal structures; institutionalised; possibly more moderate |
| Decline | Success, co-optation, fragmentation, repression, or failure |
EXAM TIP: VCAA questions about the current stage require you to justify your answer with evidence. State the stage, define it briefly, and then provide at least two pieces of evidence that the movement currently exhibits the characteristics of that stage. Be specific — vague descriptions of “the movement is organised” or “the movement is declining” will not earn marks without supporting evidence.
REMEMBER: A movement can enter decline at any stage of its life cycle and for multiple reasons (not just success). Ensure you specify how the movement declined — success is different from repression, which is different from fragmentation.
