Democracy Co

20/01/2025

Dear Facebook Friends with great regret we want to inform you that we have decided to discontinue our Facebook account.

If you are interested in staying up to date with our work, we would love it if you would follow us on LinkedIn or join our mailing list - https://www.democracyco.com.au/get-involved/

We have been reviewing our use of Facebook for the past 6 months and the latest decision to stop any form of fact checking has helped us to finalise our position.

As advocates for democracy and as an organisation that is working to improve our democracy by raising the voice of citizens and create a more equitable society, we cannot continue to support (however tacitly) a platform that fundamentally seeks to undermine it.

As an organisation we are deeply concerned about the role that misinformation and disinformation is playing in dividing – couples, families, friends, communities, and societies.

This misinformation and disinformation is creating an environment where it is impossible for governments to pursue the reforms that are needed to address the big issues our societies face and it is not sustainable.

We are hopeful, that in time, sense will prevail and reform will be pursued that improves the accountability of social media platforms.
Warmest wishes
Emma and Emily

19/12/2024

Merry Christmas everyone! Wishing you and your family a wonderful festive season and we look forward to talking all things democracy in the new year. Its going to be an exciting year for us with lots of big and exciting projects - so we are having a bit of a break and will be back on deck early in January!
Dan, Emma, Emily and Kerry!

17/12/2024

Democracy is facing an existential crisis globally, and Australia is not immune. The contrasting yet compounding forces of polarisation and apathy threaten citizens’ trust in MPs and our democracy. The loudest voices dominate, echo chambers breed hyper-partisian-ism, and frustration with ‘the system’ is fuels disengagement.

What we do know, is that democracies work best when people feel heard and empowered, and when we listen to the perspectives of many – not few. Complex issues can’t be solved by shouting at each other on the internet, but that can be explored and considered by communities and MPs through deliberative process – to find common grown and collective judgement.

We’re on a mission to bring more Australians back into the democratic process and re-establish trust between political leaders and the communities they serve, which we explore in our latest report - our Democracy Exchange.

Democracy is facing an existential crisis, and Australia is not immune. The contrasting yet compounding forces of polarisation and apathy threaten citizens’ trust in MPs and our democracy. The loudest voices dominate, echo chambers breed hyper-partisian-ism, and frustration with ‘the system’ i...

16/12/2024

Where are we talking across our echo chambers? If the American election tells us one thing - it tells us that we arent talking across the divides- and we need to urgently! At democracyCo we specailise in helping groups find common ground and a way forward together.

We help work through complex issues, like climate change, community resilience, and conflict. DemocracyCo is a world-renowned team with a proven track record in using democratic engagement to guide governments and stakeholders, and engage and mobilise communities.

15/12/2024

4 billion people voted in 40 democratic countries this year… democracy's are at risk in many of these countries. Democracy is not static, it evolves … we want to help make sure that as democratic countries evolve that they are becoming more inclusive and responsive to their citizens ... Welcome to People's House..

But our democracy is facing an existential crisis, marred by rapidly polarising, antagonistic views and an increasingly profound sense of apathy. We need to bring more Australians back into the democratic process to re-establish trust with leaders, improve policy development, and give people more co...

13/12/2024

Are you satisfied with the state of democracy in Australia? Turns out that almost a third of Australians aren't satisfied with democracy and there is a strong link between conerns about democracy and concerns more generally about how fair Australia is.

We found concerns about income inequality in Australia are strongly related to dissatisfaction with democracy. This suggests Australia’s satisfaction with democracy is at risk.