Democracy means rule of the people. It says so in the etymology: demos (people) + kratos (rule). But who counts as the people has never been self-evident. It has been the central contested question of democratic politics across every era — and the history of how that question has been answered, and repeatedly re-answered, is both clarifying and humbling.
Australia's federal parliament passed the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Act 2025, receiving royal assent on 20 February 2025.1 The AEC describes it as the biggest update to the Commonwealth Electoral Act in 40 years2 — introducing donation caps and tightening disclosure requirements that have been debated in Australia for many years.
Taiwan is frequently cited as a place where digital deliberation actually worked at government scale. That claim deserves scrutiny — and the scrutiny is more interesting than the headline. The factual background is in the vTaiwan and g0v entries in the DOD Democracy Landscape.
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.1
The Civics Ecosystem Toolkit v1.2 is now publicly available. This is a project that has been developing quietly for a while and feels ready to share more broadly.
Do you want to address society's biggest issues but not sure where you'd start? Or, perhaps you're idealistic but struggle with concrete planning? Or maybe you just want to make a positive difference with others who also want the same?
In this event, our special guest, Usha (with support from Nick) will use her expertise to guide participants in a workshop on how we can use Design Thinking to address an issue in society.