As our elected representatives gathered for what is expected to be the last week of the 47th Parliament, many of Mannifera’s grant partners assembled in Canberra for a final push of advocacy to secure reforms for a fairer democracy and economy for all of us.

Over the past three years progress on this front has been mixed, and this last sitting week was no exception. There was pronounced disappointment among our partners about the shape of the final Electoral Reform Bill for example, but some positive indications that the work will continue into the next government with a rapid mobilisation of civil society indicating that the issues with the bill will not be laid to rest. The introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill by Sophie Scamps MP and co-sponsored Bridget Archer MP was also a promising development, as was the introduction of the Whistleblower Protection Authority Bill will by Andrew Wilkie MP, Dr Helen Haines MP, Senator David Pocock and Senator Jacqui Lambie.

Amidst this busy week in Canberra, Mannifera assembled peers in civil society and philanthropy for our first Think Table of 2025: a panel discussion with Dr Catherine Williams (Executive Director of the Centre for Public Integrity), David Mejia Canales (Senior Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre), Ray Yoshida (Democracy Campaigner at Australian Democracy Network) and Taylor Hawkins (Managing Director of Foundations for Tomorrow).

The panel reflected on what was and was not achieved  in the 47th Parliament across key areas of democratic and economic reform,  what factors supported and hindered reform, the role that the coordinated advocacy of many Mannifera grant partners played, and how this advocacy will be pursued in this election period and into the 48th Parliament.  

The panel shared some significant progress achieved in this parliamentary term and the critical role of Mannifera grant partners’ advocacy -  like the establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Commission, a MP Code of Conduct and Parliamentary Standards Committee, the establishment of a new Administrative Review Tribunal with merit based appointments,  significant legal wins removing Freedom of Information exemptions for ministers,  the government’s economic shift with its Measuring What Matters framework, along with increased political support for intergenerational equity and policy making for future generations. 

The panel also shared the list of private members' bills that they, and other Mannifera grant partners, developed and were tabled by different members of the cross-bench. These bills include: 

• End Pork Barrelling Bill - (Haines) 
• Ending Jobs for Mates Bill (Scamps)
• Whistleblower Protection Authority Bill (Haines, Wilkie, Lamby and Pocock)
• Lobbying (Improving Government Honesty and Trust) Bill (Ryan)
• Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill (Scamps) 

Building the public support along with the political will to advance the reforms laid out in these private members bills is the continuing work for many of Mannifera’s grant partners.

Throughout 2024, coordinated civil society advocacy influenced a suite of legislation focused on addressing dis/misinformation and the regulation of digital platforms. While many of these reforms are yet to be made, Mannifera grant partners are focused on the continued, joined up advocacy that will help them progress in the next parliamentary term.

Along with these wins and signs of progress, our panel shared some key barriers to progress and setbacks, with a big focus on the retrograde Electoral Reform Bill just passed. This bill seeks to restrict political representation to the major parties, making it much harder for independents to contest, and significantly curtails charities’ ability to advocate. It seeks to reinstall our parliamentary duopoly and silence community voices around elections. Yet the response to this setback from civil society has been swift and significant, with a huge mobilisation of advocacy in response to this bill to take into this election period and the next parliament.

A key theme of this Think Table was the importance of partnerships for effective advocacy. Mannifera has always sought to fund organisations deploying complementary advocacy strategies and to connect our partners.  It was heartening to hear that this approach has led our partners to develop strong relationships and strategically collaborate to achieve progress and change.

We also heard that ongoing resourcing was a critical barrier to advancing the advocacy for these democratic and economic reforms. This work is delivered by very small teams with limited resources. I am always wondering how much more they could get done with more funding. That’s why it’s a key role of Mannifera’s to bring more funders into this space to consider supporting the work that can improve the democratic and economic systems that all of the other issues we care about depend on.

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Links to the audio and video recordings of the discussion are now available.

If you’d like to learn more about the ways you can fund with or alongside Mannifera, please reach out to our Director of Partnerships and Engagement, Tambelin Boykin, at tambelin@mannifera.org.au.

FURTHER READING

• For our future (Foundations for Tomorrow)
• Protest in Peril (Human Rights Law Centre)
• A national conversation on measuring what matters (Centre for Policy Development)
• Tax wealth, not work (Think Forward)
• Rights First: Principles for Digital Platforms Regulation (Human Rights Law Centre)

• Electoral reform: impact on charities (Australian Democracy Network) 
• Electoral reform: process concerns (Centre for Public Integrity) 
• FOI win (Grata Fund)
• Whistleblower Protection Authority (Human Rights Law Centre, Transparency International Australia and Centre for Public Integrity)