Australian Citizens Parliament Starts Today!
Australia’s first Citizens’ Parliament began today, demonstrating the Australian federal government’s commitment to community consultation and the core principles of openness, debate and deliberation. The four-day parliament, which involves 150 citizens from around the country, gives ordinary Australians the chance to deliberate on how Australia’s political system might be strengthened to better serve its citizens. Each day the Citizens’ Parliament will produce a report on the day’s ideas, debate and dialogue leading to a final report on Monday which the Federal government welcomes.
Participants in the Citizens’ Parliament, one from each of the 150 Federal electorates, were selected at random to ensure a truly representative sample of ‘everyday’ Australians from all walks of life.
The Citizens’ Parliament is funded by an Australian Research Council Linkage Grant in conjunction with The new Democracy Foundation.
Learn more about this important event at www.citizensparliament.org.au. You can also follow the live blog of the Citizens Parliament here. NCDD members Janette Hartz-Karp, Lyn Carson, and Brian Sullivan were all involved in the design process.
And for those of you in the U.S. who would like to participate in something with a similar spirit, it’s not too late to register for this month’s American Citizens Summit!
