Restoring Australia’s democracy
Last year, Philanthropy Australia held its Philanthropy Meets Parliament Summit where ideas about the state of our democracy were debated, tested and challenged. Continuing that debate in to 2020, Hugh de Kretser, Executive Director of the Human Rights Law Centre, highlights how important charity advocacy is for a healthy democracy.
By Hugh de Kretser, Executive Director, Human Rights Law Centre
OUR world is in the grip of a democratic recession and established democracies like Australia are not immune. As democracy is being stripped away, so too is people’s trust in it. In 2007, 86 percent of Australians were satisfied with how democracy works in Australia. That figure has now plummeted to just 41 percent.
Our democracy matters. Not just for the legitimacy of our governments, but because democracy is the best way of achieving the things we all care about, from peace and prosperity to guaranteeing our human rights and protecting our environment. We must act now to strengthen our democracy and restore people’s faith in it.
For most of us, most of the time, Australia is a great place to live. On a world scale, Australia’s democracy has been reasonably successful and has delivered an enviable record of wellbeing for many Australians.
Two things are clear though. First, the benefits of our democracy have not been shared equally. From the dispossession and mistreatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to the White Australia policy, there have been and continue to be gross human rights violations in our nation.
Second, while our democracy is fairly resilient, there has been an unmistakable trend of politicians and governments undermining it and chipping away at many of its vital foundations.
In December, this regression culminated in Australia’s status as an “open democracy” being downgraded in a blunt assessment from a global alliance of human rights organisations. As the CIVICUS global monitor report showed, Australia has gone backwards on many fronts, highlighted by police raids on the media, the prosecution of whistleblowers and harsh crackdowns on peaceful protest.
One key frontline has been attacks on advocacy by charities and other not-for-profit organisations. As highlighted by Philanthropy Australia’s submission to the current parliamentary inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy, charity advocacy is critical to the health of our democracy.
Charities have invaluable experience drawn from the work we do, whether it’s tackling homelessness or ending Aboriginal deaths in custody. Our advocacy communicates the experiences and interests of the people we serve, informs public debates and helps to shape better laws and policies. It is an essential and effective way of achieving our missions which, under charity law, must be for the public good.
Charity advocacy can at times be uncomfortable for governments and in recent years successive federal governments and some state governments have tried to suppress it. Many of the legislative attempts to limit advocacy have failed. The legal environment for advocacy, particularly since the High Court’s landmark 2010 decision in the Aid/Watch case, has been good. But attacks through funding cuts, gag clauses and more have had a profound cumulative impact on the broader advocacy environment.
In 2017, we partnered with Pro Bono Australia and University of Melbourne researchers to conduct the Civil Voices project that gathered and analysed over 1,400 survey responses from not-for-profit sector staff to measure the health of civil society advocacy in Australia.
The report paints a bleak picture. 92% of respondents agreed that economic power and strong vested interests are major drivers of government policy. Sixty-nine percent agreed that dissenting non-government organisations risk having their funding cut and 53% agreed that organisations are pressured to amend public statements in line with government policy. Only 29% of respondents agreed that current Australian political culture encourages public debate.
Supporting charity advocacy is one area where we can prompt change to strengthen our democracy and build trust. Change means not just stopping the attacks on advocacy but creating an environment in which advocacy in enabled and encouraged through legislation, policy, funding agreements and funding.
Another key area where we need reform is on stopping the distorting influence of big money in politics. Our politicians are meant to serve the people that they represent. Yet our political donation system allows big corporations to buy access and influence to protect their profits. Our election system means many politicians rely on and actively seek these donations to fund election advertising war-chests and billionaire politicians like Clive Palmer can reportedly spend double that of the major parties combined.
This is not only unfair and unequal for ordinary Australians, it results in vested corporate interests stymying meaningful action on critical issues like climate change, gambling harm, sustainable development and more.
Effective reform is within reach and surveys show strong support for change. Some state governments are already moving to limit political donations and election spending and to make donations and lobbying more transparent. The Federal Government, however, is still holding out. We need to do more to bring about change and to secure an effective Federal anti-corruption commission.
We cannot take Australia’s democracy for granted. Many of its vital foundations are being eroded and Australians’ trust in it is plummeting. We must take action to respond. Reducing the influence of big money in politics and promoting charity advocacy are two good starting points.