The Australia 2020 Summit - A New Form of Democracy?

The Australia 2020 Summit included 1000 Australians who would participate as individuals bringing stimulating new ideas to the discussion rather than traditional interest group positions. It offered a novel deliberative method outside the standard pattern of policy debates, political institutions or the immediacy of issues highlighted by the media.

In the Garran Oration entitled “One Big Conversation: The Australia 2020 Summit” published in The Australian Journal of Public Administration by Wiley-Blackwell, Professor Glyn Davis gives an explanation of the significance of this summit as well as an overview of the design plans and execution process. As Vice Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Professor Davis was chosen to present the Garran Oration in 2008 not only because he was the co-convenor of the Australia 2020 Summit, but because he is one of Australia’s most influential policy thinkers.

He argues in the article, “The summit provided a forum for engaged citizenship which can deepen and broaden democracy. It was an experience that exhilarated many who participated and allowed scope for new voices and uncomfortable proposals.”

The two-day summit gathering produced hundreds of ideas on a vast array of topics. Participants managed to find common ground on contentious topics such as climate change, federalism, a single national market and national economy, improvement to the health system, optimism that change is possible in Indigenous Australia and a strong wish for greater civic engagement.

But Professor Davis counsels that the Summit should not be judged on the quality of the ideas alone. He adds, “Rather, the Australia 2020 Summit suggests a nation now questioning existing political institutions and moving towards new expectations of the government. The significance of the summit is not content but form – a democratic innovation.”

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This paper is published in the December 2008 issue of Australian Journal of Public Administration (Vol. 67, Issue 4).
The Table of Contents are available online http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118512012/home .
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About Australian Journal of Public Administration
Aimed at a diverse readership, the Australian Journal of Public Administration is committed to the study and practice of public administration, public management and policy making. It encourages research, reflection and commentary amongst those interested in a range of public sector settings - federal, state, local and inter-governmental. The journal focuses on Australian concerns, but welcomes manuscripts relating to international developments of relevance to Australian experience.

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