Canberra’s latest campaign underlines the need for controls over government advertising, according to Graeme Orr and Joo-Cheong Tham.

In this audit Graeme Orr assesses key aspects of Australia's electoral systems against the ideal of political equality. Political equality means formal equality (treating people equally as electors), and it requires systems that are representative and inclusive, accessible to all and competitive (so that elections are open to outsiders and newcomers, not just to incumbents).

In a paper prepared for the Democratic Audit of Australia, Graeme Orr of Griffith University's Law School argues that one significant group of Australian citizens is in large part excluded from voting. They are persons under sentence of imprisonment. The paper questions the various grounds advanced for this exclusion. It also notes the recent decision...