Australian Democracy

1
Australian Democracy

• A Report on its Health

2

• Citizenship, Law and Rights
• Strengths
• Immigration policy has been oriented towards
  permanent residence and the granting of
  citizenship
• Many of the social rights generally associated
  with citizenship are available to permanent
  residents
• All jurisdictions have access and equity policies
  to meet the needs of those from culturally and
  linguistically diverse backgrounds
• Weaknesses
• There is no longer a national representative body
  to speak for Indigenous Australians.
• Dual citizens are precluded from membership in
  the Australian Parliament
• Increased stress on assimilation to national
  values

3

• The rule of law and access to justice
• Strengths
• Independence of the judiciary
• Legal assistance programs to enable wider access
  to justice
• Availability of judicial review of administrative
  decisions
• Ombudsman legislation in all jurisdictions
• Weaknesses
• Restrictive funding guidelines for legal aid
• Disproportionate rates of incarceration for
  Indigenous Australians
• Conflict over role of customary law
• Inadequate protection for whistleblowers

4

• Civil and political rights
• Strengths
• Generally unrestricted freedom of movement,
  expression, association and assemblye
• Anti-discrimination legislation in all
  jurisdictions to prevent discrimination on
  grounds such as race or disability.
• No officially condoned violence or use of death
  penalty
• Existence of national human rights commission
• Targeted measures to address violence and child
  abuse in Indigenous communities
• Weaknesses
• No constitutional protection of rights
• Curtailment of rights by anti-terror laws
• High levels of domestic violence
• Prevalence of violence and sexual abuse of
  children in Indigenous communities
• Lack of protection of human rights for
  asylum-seekers

5

• Economic and social rights
• Strengths
• Generally wide access to employment and social
  security.
• Adequate food, shelter and clean water available
  to most Australians.
• Widespread availability of health services
• Compulsory and free school education
• Generally effective corporate governance regime.
• Weaknesses
• Less secure employment with growth of workforce
  casualisation.
• Indigenous and youth unemployment remain high.
• Maternity leave provisions lag behind
  international norms.
• Persistent gender pay gap
• Indigenous health and living conditions
  significantly worse than for non-Indigenous
  Australians.
• Growing problems of homelessness and housing
  affordability.
• Tougher workplace laws restrict the work of trade
  unions

6

• Free and Fair Elections
• Strengths
• Tradition of non-partisan electoral
  administration
• Compulsory voting ensuring high turnout
• Some element of proportional representation in
  most jurisdictions
• Weaknesses
• Elections sometimes won with a minority of votes
• Distrust of politicians and political parties
• A shrinking electoral roll
• Parliamentary under-representation of women and
  Indigenous people

7

• Democratic role of political parties
• Strengths
• Elections produce decisive results with clear
  winners and losers
• Some improvements in internal party democracy
• Weaknesses
• Public funding has supplemented rather than
  displaced private funding
• Inadequate disclosure regime for political
  donations
• Low party membership

8

• Government effectiveness and accountability
• Strengths
• Government retains control over key areas of
  policy
• Systematic scrutiny of government expenditure
• Strong bicameralism in most jurisdictions
• Weaknesses
• Executive dominance of parliamentary processes
• Insufficient transparency
• Declining level of political trust
• Relatively weak FOI culture and laws

9

• Civilian control of the military and police
• Strengths
• Both the police and military effectively under
  civilian control
• All police services subject to institutionalised
  civilian oversight
• Increased co-operation in fight against organised
  crime
• Weaknesses
• Lack of accountability in outsourced
  quasi-policing activities
• Increased politicisation of security services
• Inadequate resourcing of intelligence services
  watchdog

10

• Minimising Corruption
• Strengths
• Corruption low on international scale
• Recognition by three States of the need for
  generalist anti-corruption bodies
• Public inquiry into bribery of Iraqi officials
  over wheat exports
• Weaknesses
• No Commonwealth mechanism to prevent or
  investigate allegations of political corruption
• Failure to implement Bribery Convention
• Questionable use of parliamentary allowances and
  government resources for election purposes
• Lack of accountability and transparency in
  government appointments to boards
• Lack of regulation of post-separation employment
  of ministers
• Lack of regulation or registration of lobbyists

11

• The media in a democratic society
• Strengths
• Independent, publicly-funded national
  broadcasters
• Generally free news media
• Greater uniformity in defamation laws
• Increased self-scrutiny by media industry
• Weaknesses
• High concentration of media ownership
• Increased political and financial pressures on
  public broadcasting
• Tighter restrictions on reporting due to
  anti-terrorism laws
• Prospect of prison for journalists who protect
  sources
• Lack of consistent or adequate whistleblower
  protection
• Obsessive government secrecy

12

• Political Participation
• Strengths
• High levels of public involvement in voluntary
  associations
• Robust civil society
• Improving representation of women in public
  office
• Weaknesses
• Limited public involvement in political groups
• Reliance on public funding can limit advocacy
  role
• Male domination of public office

13

• Government responsiveness
• Strengths
• High level of satisfaction with government
  services
• Growing awareness and practice of public
  consultation
• Accessibility of elected representatives
• Weaknesses
• Slow uptake of deliberative processes
• Unmet needs for many services

14

• Decentralisation
• Strengths
• Most Local Government Acts now require community
  consultation
• Increased scrutiny of council activity
• Increased regional collaboration in local
  government
• Weaknesses
• Lack of Constitutional recognition of local
  government
• Continued existence of property votes in most
  jurisdictions
• Financial weakness of local government

15

• Democracy Beyond the State
• Strengths
• History of support for international human rights
  initiatives
• Support for democratic capacity-building
• Pro-active in providing market access for poorer
  countries
• Parliamentary oversight of treaty-making
• Weaknesses
• Variable relationship with the UN over human
  rights
• Skewing of foreign aid program to fit strategic
  objectives
• Limited role for parliament in treaty
  negotiations
• Wide gulfs between public opinion and some
  foreign policy