Report no. 5: Representing the disadvantaged in Australian politics: The role of advocacy organisations    (published: 5/2005)

posted: 1/05/2005

Author(s): Bronwyn Dalton (University of Technology, Sydney), Mark Lyons (University of Technology, Sydney) Category: Focussed Audits; Rights; NGOs/participation download The Audit's fifth focused Audit report has been produced by Bronwen Dalton and Mark Lyons, from the Centre for Australian Community Organisations and Management at the University of Technology, Sydney. In recent years, there has been debate and criticism over the influence that NGOs may have on public policy decisions. This report assesses the roles of NGOs, looking both at their external impacts through public participation and involvement in policy processes, and also at NGOs’ internal structures that provide varying degrees of democratic participation for their members. Representatives of a selected number of NGOs were interviewed for the report.

Open Government – missing the target by a country mile    (published: 5/2005)

posted: 5/05/2005

Author(s): Rick Snell (University of Tasmani) Category: Accountability; Rights; - Audit paper download The cost of Freedom of Information requests continues to be a focus of discussion following Denis O’Brien’s paper in March. Now, Rick Snell (University of Tasmania) discusses the ACT government’s actions in this area – both as an initiator and recipient of FOI requests, and its belief that responding to FOI requests is not part of a government’s normal work.

Getting elected as an Independent: Electoral laws and party favouritism    (published: 5/2005)

posted: 5/05/2005

Author(s): Jennifer Curtin (Monash University) Category: Electoral; Parties/Independents; - Audit paper download Although Australia has a high number of independent parliamentarians compared to other democracies, there isn’t necessarily a level playing field when competing with party members and candidates. Jennifer Curtin (Monash University) highlights various ways in which Independents and independent candidates are disadvantaged through Australia’s various electoral systems and parliamentary processes.

State upper houses    (published: 6/2005)	posted: 1/06/2005
Author(s): Bruce Stone (University of Western Australia) Category: Parliament; Electoral; - Audit paper download In this paper Bruce Stone audits State upper houses and finds electoral reform is the key to improved performance in legislative review and executive scrutiny but some houses are simply too small to be effective.

Increased political donations - Recipe for corruption    (published: 11/2005)

posted: 1/06/2005

Author(s): Peter Andren (Independent Federal Member for Calare) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Parties/Independents; - Audit paper download Peter Andren MP follows up on the proposal to increase the disclosure threshold for donations to political parties and to raise the tax deductibility limit. He argues the changes will further erode democracy. Andren’s comments can be viewed here.  See also Joo-Cheong Tham’s recent analysis below.

How democratic is parliament? A case study in auditing the performance of parliament    (published: 6/2005)

posted: 30/06/2005

Author(s): John Uhr (Political Science Program, Research School of Social Science, ANU.) Category: Parliament; Accountability; - Audit paper download John Uhr provides an Audit of Australian Parliament. He ranks the various components with a high, medium or low score against the four key values of the IDEA framework – political equality, popular control of government, civil liberties and human rights and public deliberation. Uhr considers the Senate in a positive light, with particular reference to proportional representation, scrutiny of legislation and the committee system. He rates negatively the low number of private members’ bills, questions surrounding ministerial responsibility, the nature of Question Time, particularly in the House of Representatives, and the government’s proposals relating to political donations. Uhr argues that, when the Howard government gains control of the Senate on 1 July 2005, a major concern is that it might use its majority in the Senate to reduce democracy within Parliament.

Review of the first year of operation of the Human Rights Act 2004    (published: 6/2005)

posted: 30/06/2005

Author(s): Helen Watchirs (ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner) Category: Rights; - Audit paper; Parliament download The ACT is the first Australian jurisdiction to have a Bill of Rights. One year after its commencement, the ACT Human Rights and Discrimination Commissioner, Dr Helen Watchirs, finds that its biggest impact has been in influencing the formulation of government policy and legislation.

The Senate changeover - Implications for democracy    (published: 5/2005)	posted: 1/07/2005
Author(s): Marian Sawer (Australian National University) Category: Parliament; Accountability; - Audit paper download With the changeover of Senators on 1 July 2005, Marian Sawer looks at democratic issues posed by government control of both houses of the Australian Parliament, particularly in relation to legislative review and executive scrutiny.

Ending felon disenfranchisement - What voting rights should prisoners have?    (published: 7/2005)

posted: 1/07/2005

Author(s): Sandey Fitzgerald (Macquarie University) Category: Felon disenfranchisement; Rights; - Audit paper download In this paper, Sandey Fitzgerald provides new evidence on when and how prisoners have been able to vote in the various Australian jurisdictions and the difficulty of regaining voting rights after sentences have been served. She also discusses the long-standing ideological divide on the issue.

The Legacy of political corruption    (published: 7/2005)

posted: 1/07/2005

Author(s): Bob McMullan (Federal Member for Canberra) Category: Political Finance/Govt Advertising; Incumbency benefits; - Breaking news/external links download In a recent speech at an ALP regional conference, ALP Member for Canberra, Bob McMullan MP attacked four benefits of incumbency that are threatening the integrity of our democratic system. The issues addressed were - government advertising campaigns; printing and postage allowances; political donation disclosure and tax deductibility; and proposed changes to electoral enrolment regulations. A new challenge for Labor in opposition: to overcome the legacy of political corruption.

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