Submission and testimony to the Australian House of Representatives Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs inquiry into Constitutional reforms and referendums

Description

The research engagement related to an inquiry conducted by the House of Representatives Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs into constitutional reforms and referendums.
My involvement in the Committee’s inquiry fell into two parts. The first was writing a submission in in which I began by discussing impediments to reform, and in particular the lack of public awareness of how the constitution works, which is itself the product of deficiencies in civics education. I then I identified several aspects of the constitution which are in need of reform and made specific recommendations on how the constitution should be amended in order to address those issues. My submission is accessible at the inquiry's website.

The second aspect of my involvement took the form of an appearance before the Committee to give evidence and answer questions. This involved preparation prior to the hearing and then giving evidence at it. The Hansard transcript of this session is available on the parliamentary Handsard website.

The report published by the Committee refers to my written and oral submissions in numerous places, including by direct quotation from my contributions. The report also be accessed on the committee's website.

Role
The purpose of the engagement was to contribute to debate on a matter of public importance. My role involved research and writing of a written submission and appearing before the Committee to give oral evidence.

The engagement constituted a major activity in that it required significant research in preparing my written submission and prior to giving oral evidence before the Committee. It resulted in favourable references to my submissions at several places in the Committee’s final report.

The substance of my contribution was complex in that it involved an evaluation of two separate issues – a societal analysis of the effectiveness of civics education and a legal analysis of structural defects in the constitution – as well as the formulation of recommendations to address each of them.

Purpose
The way in which Australia is governed, the degree to which citizens are knowledgeable about the constitution, and reform of issues such as Indigenous recognition, shortcomings in the electoral system, mechanisms to enhance parliamentary scrutiny of the executive, the way the federal system operates and de-politicisation of the process of selecting judge - all of which were addressed in my submission - are all matters which are of obvious national significance.

Making submissions to a parliamentary committee representation is the highest form of engagement that an individual can have in the law-making process and has a direct impact on the workings of parliament and the formulation of legislation. Such engagement also confers a benefit on the community as a whole in that it contributes towards societal reform.

Outcomes
The material contained in my written and oral submissions and the report is firstly and most obviously of use to makers of government policy and to the members and senators in determining how to progress constitutional reform.

It will also be a useful resource for teachers of constitutional law and public administration both from a process point of view in demonstrating how individual citizens can make submissions and for the summary it presents of shortcomings in the constitution and how they might be remedied.

Finally, the material will be of use to legal academics researching in the field of constitutional law as well as to researchers in the education discipline who have an interest in civics education both for school students and the wider community.

Period	Jun 2021 → Sept 2021
Work for	Parliament of Australia, Australia
Degree of Recognition	National