Voters who are blind or sight impaired have been able to vote remotely by telephone in federal elections since 2013 through a call centre service offered by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). Around 2,000 votes were taken this way at each of the last two federal elections. In 2020 electoral legislation was changed to allow Australian voters in Antarctica to also use telephone voting. Read more...
Australians have embraced early voting with considerable enthusiasm over the last several federal elections. At the 2019 federal election, early votes—mostly driven by the steady rise in pre-poll ordinary votes (votes before election day cast at a pre-poll or early voting centre)—constituted over 40 per cent of all votes. If the trends continue, up to half of all votes might be cast before the election day in 2022. Read more...
On 23 March 2022, the Social Research Centre (SRC) of the Australian National University released the results of the 2021 National Student Safety Survey (NSSS). Funded by Universities Australia (UA) through its Respect. Now. Always. initiative, the NSSS examines the prevalence and experiences of sexual assault and harassment among university students in a university context. This includes off-campus experiences where university students or staff are present, and university organised or supported places and events. Read more...
With war raging in Ukraine, President Zelenskyy has urged NATO (the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) and its member states for assistance. If NATO states are to adhere to international law, what options are there? And what limits are there to such actions? This article outlines how NATO has and is responding to the conflict in Ukraine and considers ways forward for the alliance as pressure mounts on it to respond with its considerable military strength. Read more...
As of 1 January 2021 (the most recent figures at the time of publication), the Australian Parliament was ranked 73rd of 193 countries globally by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) for women in ministerial positions in national parliaments, with women then comprising 26.7% of the ministry. Read more...
This Flagpost looks at the change in first preference votes to the major parties in the House of Representatives by generation over the past 6 federal elections (2004 to 2019). It is based on data collected by the Australian Election Study (AES). Read more...
This month: Indigenous languages, farming statistics and health conditions. Statistics releases in May 2022 If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date ANZ Australian Job Ads Report, April 2022 2 May ABS Retail Trade, March 2022 4 May ABS Selected Living Cost Indexes, March 2022 4 May ABS Lendi... Read more...
How does the gender composition of the Australian parliament compare with parliaments around the world, and how has it changed over the past two decades? Read more...
In the lead-up to the 2022–23 Budget media reports suggested that the Government was considering halving the excise tax on draught beer—that is, beer designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system, pump delivery system or other system prescribed by the regulations. It was claimed that this was in response to a push from hotels and clubs that are seeking to attract more patrons in order to recover from the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the most recent IBISWorld industry report on pubs, bars and nightclubs in Australia, the industry has indeed been significantly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the industry has also seen a de... Read more...
This is the question that the 21 member countries of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee (the Committee) will examine at its 45th Session, currently due to be held from 19–30 June 2022 in Kazan, Russia. The Committee’s determination of whether the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) should be added to the List of World Heritage in Danger will be based on an updated ‘State Party’ report from the Australian Government and a State of Conservation report to be prepared by two scientific officials (p. 58) who visited the GBR last month. Read more...
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