How is Australia’s system unfair? If you get caught speeding in Australia, you will be fined with a flat-rate traffic fine. Exceeding the speed limit by 12km/h in New South Wales earns you a $361 fine, whether you are on government benefits or a billionaire. This is not a fair system. What about the principle:

Tasmanian MPs have not had a pay increase since 2018.

And eight ideas to improve it

As dramatic changes to South Australian electoral law pass the house of review (Legislative Council), voters could be forgiven for wondering “what just happened?”

A week ago, no one had seen the government’s revised Electoral (Accountability and Integrity) Amendment Bill 2024. Now, it’s set to become law.

Amy Remeikis and the Director of The Australia Institute’s Democracy and Accountability Program, Bill Browne, unpack how we got here … and what should happen next.

Welcome to The Australia Institute, Amy Remeikis

Amy is one of Australia’s most respected political observers.

She proudly swims against the tide of spin which swirls around the Canberra bubble.

This is her first column for The Australia Institute.

The prices of many goods and services have increased dramatically across Australia since 2021. This has resulted in hardship for many households—along with $100 billion in increased profits for major companies. These corporate profits have been a key factor driving inflation.

Whistleblowers are critical to addressing the climate and biodiversity crises.

A notable trend in Australian politics has been the decline of the share of the vote won by both major parties at federal elections. One effect of this is that there are no longer any safe seats in Australian politics: minor parties and independents win more “safe” seats than they do “marginal” ones. The declining

The Australia Institute’s inaugural 2024 Transparency Summit brought together experts, whistleblowers and those working to ensure the interests of all Australians are represented in our policy-making process. We are sleepwalking towards disaster when we accept the idea that the more secret we are about decision-making, the safer we’ll be. – Richard Denniss, Executive Director of

Parliaments are made to share power.

There is widespread public support for banning gambling advertisements on free-to-air media because of the harm caused by gambling. The main objection is that Australia’s free-to-air networks, hit by declining revenues and fragmenting audiences, can’t afford to lose the money. But there’s a simple solution. A small levy on the many billions of dollars gambling

Replacing political donations may sound good in theory, but in practice what matters is who gets the money – and how much they get.

In 2019 the Australia Institute identified ambitious, progressive policies from the Australian Capital Territory, most of which are overwhelmingly popular among all Australians. Five years on, we have an update on how these policies have progressed in Canberra and around Australia.

Former Senator Rex Patrick is on a mission to make freedom of information reform “sexy”.

This is an extract of Lech Blaine’s Quarterly Essay, Bad Cop: Peter Dutton’s Strongman Politics, out now.

Prime ministers need to stop “waving their mandates around” and start negotiating in both houses of parliament if they want to pass more legislation, says Richard Denniss.

Big tech is kicking capitalism to the kerb, former Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis tells a sold-out crowd at the State Library of NSW in a special episode of Follow the Money.

What would an evidence-based response from the government to climate change look like? And how can we build integrity back into our democratic system? At the Climate Integrity Summit 2024, our first panel discussed the power of political leadership and evidence-based policy. Featuring: Bernie Fraser, Former Governor, Reserve Bank of Australia Dr Monique Ryan MP,

Visionary economist Yanis Varoufakis toured Australia in March as a guest of the Australia Institute, as part of our 30th anniversary celebrations in 2024.

Yanis Varoufakis addressed the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday 13 March, 2024.

The Australia Institute has crunched the data on women’s representation in Australian parliaments.

No modern democracy has shown greater readiness to experiment with various electoral methods than Australia.

Last week, Education Minister Jason Clare announced that he was going to remove political interference from the Australian Research Council grants process (except for national security concerns). It is a victory for academic freedom, and a testament to the work of Senator Mehreen Faruqi – who proposed the Ensuring Research Independence Bill back in 2018.