Despite occasional fearmongering about ‘hung’ parliaments, minority government and 'coalitions of chaos', the reality is that power sharing governments are common in Australia. This discussion paper examines the history of power sharing in parliaments around Australia.

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.

The Australia Institute has prepared this submission to the inquiry into access to Parliament House by lobbyists. The submission builds on the institute’s existing research on lobbying, including regarding the disclosure of ministerial diaries and proactive disclosure of representations made by lobbyists and trade associations.

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. However, in this submission, the Australia Institute argues that further changes are needed to ensure that appointments to the ART are open and free from political influence.

This report assesses progress against the 'democracy agenda' halfway through the 47th Parliament, and identifies priorities for 2024 – the last chance to implement electoral reforms ahead of the federal election due in 2025.