The democratic process relies on an unfettered flow of information. In Australia, the Westminster system of democracy sees representatives elected based on, presumably, their good character, their stated values and which side of the chamber they intend to sit on. Some voters are happy to take these potential representatives on face value. Others want more granular information.
In this post-truth society, where media frames are manipulated at one end, with doubt cast at the other end by frequent accusations of bias, it is hard for voters to know exactly what their elected officials have or would stand for. If the media can’t be trusted, what can? The library of democracy can.
Everything a member of federal parliament does is recorded in Hansard, the official record of speeches, divisions and committees in the House of Representative and the Senate. The official record, dating back to Federation and Australia’s first ever parliament, is available online at the Australian Parliament House website. It is, however, quite a job to dig through to find out how your representative voted on a particular issue.
Enter the OpenAustralia Foundation collection! The Hansard library at OpenAustralia.org.au is searchable and will return direct results, which can be ordered by date, relevance or person. For instance, a quick search of the term gambling will reveal 98 instances from September 2010 to July 2026 from Independent MP and anti-gambling campaigner, Andrew Wilkie.
Another collection in the OpenAustralia Foundation digital library is They Vote For You, a website where you can see just how aligned you are with your current member of parliament. Or, perhaps the member for an area you are about to rent or buy a property in! Type in a postcode and find out the voting record of the local member for Federal Parliament. Or click across to an issue that interests you and see how various members voted on renewable energy, ABC funding or the size of donations to political parties. Australians need an online library, one that is fiercely independent of government and political parties, where information can be accessed simply and easily. These library resources are built and maintained by a small and dedicated group heading up a large team of passionate volunteers.
OpenAustralia Foundation is a charity, and through your donation, you can support the work it takes to maintain these collections and keep the digital libraries open.
Photo by Natalia Marcelewicz on Unsplash