Sortition Foundation (Australia)
The Sortition Foundation is a UK-based organisation that campaigns for the use of stratified random selection (sortition) in government, primarily through citizens' assemblies. The Australian chapter operates within that global structure and is established by Dr Sonia Randhawa, based in Preston, Victoria, who works as a Project Manager at the Foundation.
The UK Sortition Foundation already has a landscape entry. The Australian chapter is noted separately because of its distinct operational activity in Australian democratic processes.
Key people
- Dr Sonia Randhawa — established and leads the Australian chapter, based in Preston, Victoria. Works as a Project Manager at the Sortition Foundation and has driven its operational presence in Australian local and federal democratic processes.1
What the Australian chapter does
- Monthly online meetings — second Thursday evening of each month, open to anyone interested
- Victorian council recruitment — assisted 11 Victorian councils in using random selection for deliberative engagement under the Local Government Act
- Federal electorate pilots — ran a service for federal MPs (ACT seat of Canberra, Victorian seat of Casey) randomly selecting voters to help identify electorate priorities
- National assemblies — provided sortition recruitment for the 2025 AMPLIFY National Assembly on Housing: 36,000 invitations sent, 120 participants selected across 11 demographic categories
- Education — developing deliberative democracy curriculum for Australian secondary school students
Links
- Australian chapter: sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia
- Parent organisation: Sortition Foundation (UK)
See also
-
"We want to change the way politics is done in Australia! Join us" Sortition Foundation, Australia chapter, 3 September 2020. - What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people? — Brett Hennig TED talk, discussed at DOD 2018 - Your Party is using sortition — UK case study, 2025 ↩