Our Managing Director, Nicole Hunter, appeared before the Australian Senate’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy on the 13th of November 2020.
The purpose of the inquiry
The purpose of the Inquiry was for the Committee to engage with issues around the worldwide trend in public dissatisfaction with democratic politics, the erosion of trust in democratic institutions, and the challenges and opportunities they present.
Evidence shows that Australia is experiencing a decline in the level of public trust. In 2007, 86 per cent of Australians were satisfied with how democracy works in Australia. However that figure sat at just 41 per cent pre COVID. Only 31 per cent of Australians said (pre COVID) they trusted the federal government, and the approval rating for politicians was at 21 per cent.
As a means of addressing these issues, the Committee invited submissions from the public, academics, civil society, businesses, government and individuals, with an interest or insights into democracy and national identity.
MOSAICLAB’S SUBMISSION
MosaicLab provided a submission to the Inquiry drawing on our experience and the results of pre and post polling we conducted in deliberative processes that we have run over the years.
This polling showed that involving community members in authentic engagement processes with high influence (e.g. deliberative processes) leads to a significant increase in trust of democratic institutions.
This does come with a caveat – that the sponsoring government implements the findings of the deliberations, or at least, is clearer and more open with their communities about why certain recommendations are not being implemented.
Participants also report a much higher interest in becoming involved in civic affairs after participating in a genuine engagement experience. With these sorts of results, we believe that Australia’s democracy could be enhanced through the increased take up of deliberative democracy processes.
invitation TO APPEAR AT THE SENATE HEARING
Following our submission, we were thrilled to be invited to appear at the Senate Hearing in November and further share our knowledge, experiences and thoughts with the Committee. Our Managing Director, Nicole Hunter, represented the organisation and spoke to the role that deliberation and deliberative democracy processes are having in increasing trust in democracy.
Nicole appeared before the Senate Committee alongside Democracy 2025 and International IDEA.
The Committee is expected to table its report on the 16th February 2021. We look forward to hearing what the Committee finds and where this exploration goes from here.
You can follow the Legal and Constitutional Affairs Reference Committee: Nationhood Inquiry here.
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