Giving the inaugural human rights assessment of the Australian Human Rights Commission at the National Press Club in April, Commission President Hugh de Kretser began by emphasising the centrality of human rights to our democratic freedoms.
“When we go somewhere”, he said, “we use our freedom of movement.”
“When we join a trade union, a sporting group or a community organisation, we use our freedom of association.”
“When we attend a protest, we use our freedom of peaceful assembly and expression. When we attend a place of worship, we use our freedom of religion.”
“When we access public healthcare, we enjoy our right to health and when we get a job with fair and safe conditions, we enjoy our right to work.”
“The fact that many of us don’t think that much about our rights reflects Australia’s success”, he said, “but it also creates risks of complacency…”
De Kretser is right.
Civil and political freedoms form part of our way of life, but they also contribute to the strength and endurance of our democracy.
Human rights – together, of course, with our constitutional foundations and compulsory, preferential voting system, our non-politicised judiciary, low levels of corruption, the strength of the rule of law, not to mention separation between church and state – all these things have created one of the most stable and prosperous countries on earth.
At the same time, de Kretser warns, “[O]ur success is fragile”.
“[O]ur success…[is] being threatened by major challenges including polarisation, division, rising racism, climate change, inequality, and rapid technological change. We have a strong foundation to respond, but we must act now. We need to strengthen our human rights and democratic foundations…”
Australians are lucky but our democracy cannot be taken for granted
With three-quarters of the world’s population now living in autocracies (see Grattan Institute, here, p 5), Australians are fortunate to live in a liberal democracy.
We elect our political representatives, rather than having them foisted on us by whichever party or group has managed to achieve authoritarian control through corruption and violence.
Elections are not rigged but are free and fair and administered by an impartial, apolitical electoral commission.
Politicians compete for political power, essentially through the media. In a democracy, the role of the free media is both to amplify and to participate in a public contest of ideas.
Granted, that debate can be raucous, with not enough focus at times, but consider the alternatives.
In many parts of the world, people live their lives carefully, or indeed fearfully, governed by “great leaders” whose grip on political power is maintained through military might, deception, corruption and violence, religious authority, grandiose party narratives, or fantasies about their own special importance and place in history.
Australians enjoy the benefits of a genuine separation of powers. The judiciary decides legal matters according to law, rather than according to political considerations.
And ordinary people enjoy human rights protected by law which includes, in Australia’s case, a common law tradition that over time, adapts and evolves.
It’s not surprising that migrants around the world aspire to live in the world’s successful liberal democracies.
They tend not to cluster at the gates of authoritarian, surveillance societies – where independent media are persecuted, and where civil and political rights are degraded and perverted – banging to get in.
Australians want to preserve and strengthen our democracy
There is considerable evidence that Australians want to protect and strengthen our democracy and way of life.
According to the McKinnon Foundation, more than two thirds of Australians recognise that we are best served by an impartial public service, rather than one that is politicised at its executive levels by the government of the day.
Two thirds would support 5-year “revolving door” bans to prevent retiring politicians using their political networks and influence as lobbyists for private gain.
More than two thirds would support the establishment of an agency to reduce misinformation and foreign interference campaigns using social media.
And that’s not all.
“85% of Australians want more civics education”.
As we watch democracies backsliding overseas, it’s even more important to learn about, promote and celebrate our democracy, and the human rights, freedoms, opportunities and way of life it makes possible, even as we recognise the wrongs of the past, including to Indigenous Australians, and seek to address them.
Australia’s Governor General, the Hon. Sam Mostyn AC, has spoken of the “chronic, chronic shortage of people who care about our civics”.
“We’ve got a growing catastrophe, I think, in a failure to understand and engage with and feel proud of the … underpinnings of our democracy,” she said.
Similarly, Australia’s Education Minister, the Hon. Jason Clare MP, speaking at a Civics Education and Social Cohesion Workshop hosted by the Constitution Education Fund, said recently: “A strong democracy doesn’t run on autopilot. It depends on citizens who understand how it works….Who get how precious our democracy is. And that it can never be taken for granted”.
How healthy is our democracy?
In a recent report, The Grattan Institute warned that Australia’s social compact is under stress.
This is reflected in “growing economic pessimism, worry about the prospects for future generations, concerns about unfairness, and a declining sense of belonging” (see here, p 11).
“Annual data show trust in government peaking at just over 50 per cent early in the (Covid) pandemic, before dropping back to the long-run trend of 30-to-40 per cent. Only two in five Australians think that the federal government is effective, and that political leaders have the capability to solve long-term challenges. Fewer than half of Australians think the government is effective at balancing the interests of current and future generations” (p 21).
Not surprisingly, this loss of faith in government’s ability to address the problems of the day also impacts on trust in government as a source of reliable and accurate information.
And that extends to public health advice.
“Post pandemic, declining trust in public health guidance on vaccines has at least partly contributed to considerably lower rates of childhood vaccination, leaving communities more vulnerable to severe illnesses such as measles, mumps, and whooping cough” (p 21).
Loss of trust in government has been exacerbated by the decline of traditional, trusted news media sources, while at the same time, quality news (as distinct from entertainment and clickbait) has been de-prioritised on social media and online platforms.
These trends have not only fragmented the information landscape that was common to past generations, but they arguably make it more difficult to develop a shared perspective around our national values and identity, while leaving some people vulnerable to misinformation and even manipulation (see pp 24-29).
Although Australians are not yet highly polarised, it is more important than ever to research, and to understand what “binds and divides us” (p 30).
Although political and policy matters in liberal democracies are matters for public debate, preserving trust in our system of government also requires us to preserve the non-political status of key institutions that perform vital democratic functions, or are trusted knowledge and information brokers.
The former includes the judiciary, of course, and the roles of the Governor-General and State Governors, the Australian Electoral Commission and anti-corruption watchdogs, while the latter includes agencies such as the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, CSIRO, and the Australian National Audit Office, amongst others (see p 44)
How can we strengthen Australia’s democracy?
The Grattan Institute has argued that there are a number of opportunities to strengthen Australia’s democracy (pp 34-50).
These include improving the work of parliament (including by “reducing the influence of money in politics” p 35), and commissioning an independent review of Australia’s parliament.
We should also “nurture belonging and engagement” – by creating new opportunities for ordinary people to connect, participate in decisions that affect them and express their point of view, and by “stitching public engagement into the fabric of our existing institutions” (p 40).
People also expect governments to do their job, to tackle known challenges, the Grattan Institute argues. These challenges include transitioning to net zero, tackling the housing crisis and inter-generational inequality, meeting the needs of an ageing population and deepening our talent pools.
To these might be added: confronting the growth of extremism (far right, jihadist, and far left) and its constant companion, antisemitism, responding to the needs of regional and rural Australia, persevering with and strengthening collaborative efforts to “close the gap” and to improve health and socio-economic outcomes for Indigenous Australians, strengthening our sovereign capabilities, and indeed, our capacity to defend ourselves and ensure our continuing sovereignty over all parts of Australia and its far-flung external territories.
The report doesn’t suggest any specific, over-arching structures to confront the risks to our democracy. But are there any models worth considering? What kinds of scaffolds or structures could best support a broader public conversation?
What we do know is that the risks and threats to Australia’s democracy are complex and evolving. They aren’t going away anytime soon.
Would a Standing Parliamentary Committee for Strengthening Australia’s Democracy, or a Standing Commission for Strengthening Australia’s Democracy, with a mandate to investigate emerging risks, receive evidence and submissions, propose solutions, and report to Parliament – and to the public – on an ongoing basis, recognise the fundamental nature of the challenges we face?
What about a formal commitment by governments around the country to invest in policies to strengthen democratic literacy?
Future stress tests for Australia’s democracy
According to the Grattan Institute, Australia’s democracy is likely to face a number of shocks in future whose impact and frequency will exceed those of the past. These shocks may be forced upon us by:
- Armed conflict in our region
- Falling global co-operation, especially as a result of the degrading of multilateral institutions
- Climate change (both through its impact on the frequency and severity of natural disasters, and their humanitarian consequences, such as migration)
- Artificial intelligence and its impact on employment
- Fiscal shocks caused by any or all of the above (pp 32)
The continuing resilience of our democracy should not be taken for granted. Indeed, there are many actors around the world who would like to see it weakened.
As the Grattan Institutes states: “Safeguarding democracy requires conscious, continuous effort”. (p 23). Governments, civil society and the private sector all have roles to play.
The McKinnon Index, part of the suite of democracy initiatives funded by the non-political McKinnon Foundation (see here) – provides an annual snapshot of Australia’s democratic health (see here and here) together with some suggestions for improvements.
Australians are lucky to live in such a wonderful island continent, but when it comes to our human rights and freedoms, and the many other elements that contribute to our liberal democracy and way of life, we cannot rely just on luck.
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