Governments are currently not set up for the complexities of the digital age, concludes PPF’s Prime Ministers of Canada Fellow, Kent Aitken, in his year-long study. He suggests four ways they need to fundamentally change.

This study of 20 small and mid-sized Canadian communities, the number and depth of newspaper articles about civic affairs declined sharply between 2008 and 2017, leaving citizens less informed about their democratic institutions.

"A decline in public trust and a rise in populism and alternative voices, is the biggest background trend facing governments. Global political events over the past few years have underlined serious and ongoing threats to the free flow of information and indeed to democracy itself." Professor Ken Smith, ANZSOG Dean and CEO.

With public trust in government at an all-time low, it's time we prioritised political reform and put in place a comprehensive roadmap for effective, long-term change.

If citizens have open access to data and can shape policy will they have more faith in government and the law?