This report presents potential solutions for protecting Australia’s democracy, including common-sense actions to renew trust in politics. It finds that Australians say the most important factors influencing who they vote for are which party or candidate has a plan to address Australia’s long-term issues, and the integrity and accountability of parties or candidates.

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...

Drawing on United Kingdom (UK) engagement and international case studies, this paper identifies core design principles and eight key characteristics of successful long-term strategy-making. It develops them into practical lessons and proposed design features for system reforms that could help transform democracies like the UK to be more long-termist and capable at navigating challenges ahead.

Reforms to lower the voting age to 16 are gaining momentum internationally and raise important questions about democratic participation, equity, human rights and the nature of enfranchisement. This policy brief outlines the context, international cases, arguments for and against, and the Australian context. The Australian context of compulsory voting adds another dimension to the issue.

Australia is experiencing declining support for major parties, rising electoral success for independents and minor parties, and increasing public concern about the responsiveness of its democratic institutions. This paper examines the implications of these shifts, including recent federal election trends, emerging public attitudes towards minority governments and historical examples of parliamentary adaptation.