On the basis of our survey of international research, we argue that Australia should not apply a system of media content classification that already treats different media inconsistently to the online environment without any consideration of the existing flaws in regulation and the complex particularities of the online world. The internet is not a medium...

Conflicting and out–of–date internal information policies, multiple databases with varying degrees of security and low staff morale increased the risk of confidential Australian Crime Commission (ACC) intelligence falling into the wrong hands, according to Commonwealth Ombudsman Professor John McMillan. This investigation focused on the policies, practices and controls that the ACC uses to ensure information...

This briefing paper looks at the intergovernmental mechanisms by which federalism operates in Australia, notably the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). In reality there are many issues at play here and countervailing forces at work. Taking a broad view, what seems to be developing is a form of federalism that is regulatory, conditional and prescriptive...

This second electoral green paper considers a range of ideas aimed at improving Australia's electoral processes. The issues raised in the paper include: • current arrangements for elections in Australia; • the definition of who is entitled to vote in Australian elections; • maintenance of the electoral roll and close of roll provisions; • arrangements...

Most efforts to assess the performance of parliamentary committees have focused on anecdotal reporting, which is unreliable. This paper argues that it is both possible and valuable to assess their impact quantitatively. The few studies that have collected quantitative information have been small in scale and have not used recognised sampling methods. The approach suggested...