Victoria's Upper House inquiry: the case for a citizens' assembly

In December 2025 the Victorian parliament completed an inquiry into the state's Upper House electoral system. Among its findings: it recommended that any reform process should involve either an expert panel, a citizens' assembly, or a constitutional convention before putting changes to a referendum.

The backdrop is a significant decline in public trust. The 2025 Australian Election Study found only 32% of Australians trust government. When surveyed on reform options, the most popular was a citizens' assembly — a body of randomly selected citizens who deliberate on policy issues — with 48% support and only 20% opposed.

The inquiry itself considered two main electoral options, both involving moving to statewide proportional representation rather than the current eight regional seats. The most supported option among inquiry respondents would lower the election quota from 16.7% to 2.4%, making it substantially easier for minor parties and independents to win seats.

What's notable here is the process question as much as the outcome question: the inquiry explicitly recommended a citizens' assembly as a legitimate mechanism for deciding how to reform elections. That's a meaningful shift in how deliberative democracy is being discussed at the institutional level in Australia.

Further reading: - Victorian Upper House Electoral System Inquiry — Parliament of Victoria, December 2025 - Victorian Democrats policy position — one of the party submissions citing the same evidence