thank you, is there any way there could be a translation between year 9 and 12 (e.g. one term of year 9 physics gets taught over 3 weeks in year 12?)
Lower school physics is honestly a bit weird - and full disclaimer, the Australian curriculum is VERY open to interpretation, so I may mention things that are "taught" in particular year levels that you've never seen before. Don't stress if that's the case, because what you need to know for year 12, you will learn when you get there.
Years 7, 8, and 10 are very "Newtonian", and year 9 is very "Quantum". The way ACARA describes these, you'd think there's a very logical progression. In year 7, you learn about forces and how things move, you then extend on this in year 8 to energy, so now you know both sides of the story - the energy required for motion to happen, as well as the forces required for motion to happen. In year 9, you then learn about the particle and wave models that explain how this energy propagates through materials by different models, leaving year 10 to be when we finally introduce maths to everything you already know, tying everything up in a neat and tidy bow.
Here's the problem - in QCE physics, these topics only cover half of unit 2, and half of unit 3 (each unit is essentially a semester). You also typically won't cover them anywhere near the depth in lower school than you do in senior school - typically in year 10, you will likely cover two or three equations to describe motion. In WA, for year 11 physics alone, we have a whole page of equations to describe motion.
There's not really a way of equating lower school to senior school, because they're just two entirely different beasts (with an exception I've been hinting at that I'll get to in just a second). Senior school physics assumes you're someone who's confident with their basic maths and algebra skills. That's not something we can assume in lower school - and not even something that's properly approached and broached until year 9 maths, either.
The difference is when you hit year 9, where instead of simply following on the path that year 7 and 8 lead, most places take a sidestep. Instead, let's learn about thermodynamics (conduction, convection, radiation), let's learn about electromagnetic waves, let's learn about electricity. Then, in chemistry, let's learn about radiation. All topics that make up just as much of senior physics as motion does - and one of them isn't even taught in physics.
I'm not saying any of this to make you worry or feel ill prepared for year 11 and 12 - because you're not the only one sitting in this soup of a curriculum that seems to barely connect to senior school. It's everyone in Australia. But people get through it all every year - and the truth is, succeeding in year 12 has very little to do with how well you understand the material, or how long you've been studying it for. The truth is, pretty much every student scoring above the average - at one point or another - understood most of that content. What sets students apart is how quickly they can recall the information, and how much practice they've put into using that information. The truth of the matter is, you are very unlikely to remember something now that will help you when you get to your year 12 exam.
Look, I'm not quite sure why you're asking this, but I highly recommend not focusing too hard on the future. Worry about the now. Do well now. Build good habits now. At least an hour a night on some form of dedicated work. If you don't have homework, make your own. Because when you hit year 12, you'll likely find that you need to double that number - and that won't include the homework you owe your teachers.
And even more importantly than building good study habits - don't forget to live your life. Breaks are just as important as study, and so is spending time with friends, family, and just being a kid.
And if this was all just an exercise of curiosity because you're seeing the year 12s at your school stressing and just don't quite get it - hopefully this helped explain some things