The report warns Australia’s social cohesion is under sustained pressure. It argues that social cohesion should be treated as a core pillar of national security, aligning leadership, policing, education, regulation and community investment around three objectives: protecting freedom while maintaining order, enabling disagreement without disorder and rebuilding a shared sense of belonging.

This essay argues that modern democracies are caught in a 'digital-democratic doom loop' in which declining trust in the state is increasingly misdirected at democratic institutions. It seeks to deepen understanding of how social media is contributing to the erosion of faith in democracy and points towards practical ways to safeguard a democratic future.

A well-functioning democracy depends on informed, transparent and accountable law-making. Using recent case studies, this paper shows how limited consultation and attempts to short-circuit committee scrutiny can undermine legislative quality and democratic legitimacy. The paper calls for four law-making integrity safeguards to be embedded as standard practice as a practical standard for the Australian Parliament.

This paper presents opportunities to upgrade democracy through setting out a practical route to detoxify one of the most polarised policy issues – immigration. The paper calls for the United Kingdom Government to commission a national deliberative process – a citizens’ assembly – on earned settlement, and to pilot place-based deliberative processes on integration and...

The index is an annual measure of democratic health, tracking the effectiveness of governments over time. This inaugural report offers insights into how Australians view their democracy and provides recommendations to strengthen trust and guide the actions of governments, civil society and institutions seeking to improve the performance and legitimacy of Australia’s system of government.