About
Active Democracy Australia is an incorporated voluntary association made up of community members who want to see our democracy work better.
Vision
An Australian representative democracy that is participatory, inclusive, civil, informed, transparent and accountable.
Mission
To encourage and support the formation and development of non-party electorate-based groups in Australia seeking to improve political representation in their electorates.
We hope to be a launch pad for electorate level democracy action in Australia.
Values and principles
Active Democracy Australia…
- is non-partisan and not associated with any political party, and wants parties to be more accountable to local communities.
- encourages broad participation and inclusion of all voices and needs.
Active Democracy Australia believes that democracy works best when…
- people are civil and respectful towards each other,
- government focuses on enhancing people’s lives through better policies, informed by evidence, and
- government is transparent and accountable so that its operations are clear to all and problems can be addressed early.
Objectives
- Maintain a website that supports people in electorates across Australia forming electorate action groups*
- Facilitate people in electorate communities joining together to form electorate action groups
- Supporting Australia wide information sharing and collaboration between electorate action groups
- Promote a high integrity ecosystem of democracy in Australia that works openly for the public good
- Promote Active Democracy Australia as a key contributor to awakening democracy in Australia
*Note: Electorate action groups are non-party, community groups working to strengthen democracy and improve representation in their electorates.
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Active Democracy and Voices Electorate Group Difference in focus
The main difference between the Voices groups and Active Democracy is that our theory of change is for communities:
- To work with their current MP to improve how they are represented where the MP engages
- To choose and support a community independent candidate if that is considered necessary.
The founding members
Mark Spain, Peter Tait, Rob Salter, Margaret Lee, Marcus Crowley and Petra Cram come from a range of backgrounds, occupations and parts of the country.
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