A submission to the inquiry into Australia’s youth justice and incarceration system, summarising an earlier Australia Institute report.

The Democracy & Accountability Program has a significant body of work on voter engagement and participation in Australia and on the weaknesses in NSW’s political finance system that could undermine public confidence in democracy in the state.

The proposals highlighted in this submission provide prioritised measures that would make the use of public resources in parliamentary elections more democratic and ensure public money is better spent.

The cost of party and candidate campaigns in the 2022 South Australian election exceeded public funding by $3.3 million. The shortfall was covered with private funding, including political donations.

Australia’s electoral participation is relatively good, though there is significant room for improvement, including doing better to count the votes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and making citizenship more accessible for Australian residents.

The Electoral Disclosure and Funding Amendment Bill 2024 seeks to address shortcomings of existing electoral laws; however, further amendments are required to adequately account for fairness for new political entrants, allow community voices to engage in elections, and strengthen regulation of corporates and industry bodies seeking to influence elections as third parties.

Parliaments exist to share power, and power sharing has been a feature of Australian parliaments for as long as they have existed: between different interest groups, different communities and different political movements; across the upper and lower houses; within parties (via factions); and between parties (including coalition agreements like those between the Liberals and the Nationals).

In 2019, the Australia Institute published Canberra: Laboratory of democracy, which described innovative, politically controversial policies from the Australian Capital Territory that were popular across the country.

This discussion paper describes the evolution of key democratic reforms in Tasmania, principles for a healthy democracy, and details 16 reforms that Tasmanian parliamentarians
– Liberal, Labor, Independent and minor party – could pursue in the 51st Tasmanian Parliament.

NSW political donations laws are opaque; truth in political advertising laws are missing; and donation caps, spending caps and public funding overwhelmingly favour incumbents over new entrants.

Lobbying can give vested interests unfair advantages, be unduly secretive and serve to exclude the public from negotiations over policy.

The Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program made a submission to the COVID-19 Response Inquiry. The Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program carried out significant research into topics that might be of interest to the panel. This submission outlines how these research papers come under each of the Inquiry’s terms of reference.

The Administrative Review Tribunal Bill represents a dramatic improvement on the politicised appointments process that undermined trust in and the operations of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal.

FOI is a crucial part of the beneficial information feedback loop between the government and the people.

In 2022, the Australia Institute released the Democracy Agenda for the 47th Parliament to encourage parliamentarians and the government to consider how to improve integrity and democratic responsiveness.

The Australia Institute is grateful for the opportunity to make a submission to the review of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023. The ACT Government and Minister for Human Rights Tara Cheyne should be commended for introducing this bill.

The Australia Institute made a submission to the Federal Department of Social Services Community Services Advisory Group’s Not-for-Profit Sector Development Blueprint consultation. The

Targeted reforms are needed to introduce transparency and diversity into federal political finance: disclosing political contributions in real time, publishing ministers’ diaries, stopping the very wealthy from dominating election spending, making public funding accessible to new entrants and restricting corporate cash-for-access payments.

Australia’s public broadcasters (the ABC and SBS) should remain independent and free from political interference.

New research from the Australia Institute shows more than 60 per cent of ‘No’ voters are concerned about the misinformation and disinformation that circulated on social media during the referendum campaign, with more than 80 per cent of that cohort wanting to see truth in political advertising laws in place before the federal election, expected in 2025.

The audit, assurance and consulting industry has failed to meet expectations. The industry needs clear standards, better monitoring and strong sanctions for misconduct.

Publicly-listed companies in Australia disclose little information about their political expenditure, with few disclosing lobbying spending or payments to trade associations

Truth in political advertising laws are recommended, supported, and overdue in Victoria.

In 2018, the Victorian Parliament made major changes to electoral law in the state, including introducing real-time disclosure of donation, banning foreign donations and limiting anonymous donations.

The problems attached to over-use of consultants are becoming clearer. The experience in New South Wales accords with the national experience: dependency on consultants hollows out public sector capacity and leads to bad government decisions.

FOI is a crucial part of the beneficial information feedback loop between the government and the people. However, our FOI system is broken and cultural and legal changes are needed to fix it.

A submission made by the Australia Institute to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security on the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023.

Constructive and non-partisan political finance reform could improve trust in politics and reduce the influence of vested interests.

But if political finance reform is done poorly, it could make Australian elections less fair, and conceal rather than expose the undue influence moneyed interests enjoy over our politicians and parties.

Public interest journalism from the ABC has placed scrutiny on issues that governments would prefer to ignore, prompting numerous government inquiries and investigations – what Josh Taylor, writing in Crikey, called “The Four Corners effect”.

Sitting politicians receive millions in public funding that support re-election.