Pub Date : 2022-10-24DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2133679
J. Newman
ABSTRACT In 2009, the Australian Senate rejected the government's ambitious Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. In the prevailing narrative surrounding these events, the Labor government, under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, made a series of strategic errors that led to the scheme's – and ultimately, Rudd's and the Labor Party's – downfall. However, by taking a closer look at of some aspects of Australia's parliamentary system, including the norms of partisan voting and the numbers game in parliament, a different story is apparent. A counter-narrative is that the Rudd Labor government's approach was reasonable at the time, but that institutional factors and election outcomes presented significant obstacles to passing climate legislation of any kind. Correcting this narrative will enable a better understanding of the political circumstances in which environmental policies are enacted in Australia, a country with the potential for regional policy leadership on climate change.
{"title":"Narratives and counter-narratives of political strategy: revisiting Australia's carbon pollution reduction scheme","authors":"J. Newman","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2133679","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2133679","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT\u0000 In 2009, the Australian Senate rejected the government's ambitious Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. In the prevailing narrative surrounding these events, the Labor government, under Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, made a series of strategic errors that led to the scheme's – and ultimately, Rudd's and the Labor Party's – downfall. However, by taking a closer look at of some aspects of Australia's parliamentary system, including the norms of partisan voting and the numbers game in parliament, a different story is apparent. A counter-narrative is that the Rudd Labor government's approach was reasonable at the time, but that institutional factors and election outcomes presented significant obstacles to passing climate legislation of any kind. Correcting this narrative will enable a better understanding of the political circumstances in which environmental policies are enacted in Australia, a country with the potential for regional policy leadership on climate change.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"88 - 104"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42354944","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-12DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2132915
J. McDonnell
ABSTRACT Structural reforms over the past several decades have seen the institution of local government in Australia become progressively less local. Primarily as a result of municipal amalgamation, the average population of Australia’s local governments has more than doubled since the early 1990s. The democratic implications of this de-localisation, however, have been severely understudied. This article addresses this gap by analysing the effect of municipality size on several modes of local political participation in the mainland capital city regions of Adelaide and Perth. Drawing on a quantitative analysis of primary survey and electoral data, this paper presents evidence of a negative relationship between municipality size and participation – as size increases, rates of voting, candidacy, contact with local representatives, and council meeting attendance decrease. The implications for local government’s input legitimacy and its role as a training ground for democracy – as well as options for ‘re-localising’ local politics – are discussed.
{"title":"Municipality size and political participation: evidence from Australia","authors":"J. McDonnell","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2132915","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2132915","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Structural reforms over the past several decades have seen the institution of local government in Australia become progressively less local. Primarily as a result of municipal amalgamation, the average population of Australia’s local governments has more than doubled since the early 1990s. The democratic implications of this de-localisation, however, have been severely understudied. This article addresses this gap by analysing the effect of municipality size on several modes of local political participation in the mainland capital city regions of Adelaide and Perth. Drawing on a quantitative analysis of primary survey and electoral data, this paper presents evidence of a negative relationship between municipality size and participation – as size increases, rates of voting, candidacy, contact with local representatives, and council meeting attendance decrease. The implications for local government’s input legitimacy and its role as a training ground for democracy – as well as options for ‘re-localising’ local politics – are discussed.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"70 - 87"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46348760","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-01DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2122401
Glenn Kefford, B. Moffitt, J. Collins, J. Marsh
ABSTRACT The study of populist attitudes is a burgeoning area of scholarship. While the manner in which populism is measured and the concepts underpinning it are continuously updated, much work remains. In this article we consider the way populist attitudes are associated with key issues in Australian politics and the way these issues shape voting behaviour. We demonstrate that populist attitudes are associated with dissatisfaction with the functioning of liberal democracy, as well as negative attitudes towards Indigenous peoples. However, we find it is not strongly associated with economic anxiety. We argue that measuring populist attitudes in isolation from other national level contextual factors is problematic and can lead to flawed assumptions about the drivers of voting behaviour.
{"title":"Populist attitudes in Australia: contextualising the demand-side","authors":"Glenn Kefford, B. Moffitt, J. Collins, J. Marsh","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2122401","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2122401","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT The study of populist attitudes is a burgeoning area of scholarship. While the manner in which populism is measured and the concepts underpinning it are continuously updated, much work remains. In this article we consider the way populist attitudes are associated with key issues in Australian politics and the way these issues shape voting behaviour. We demonstrate that populist attitudes are associated with dissatisfaction with the functioning of liberal democracy, as well as negative attitudes towards Indigenous peoples. However, we find it is not strongly associated with economic anxiety. We argue that measuring populist attitudes in isolation from other national level contextual factors is problematic and can lead to flawed assumptions about the drivers of voting behaviour.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"53 - 69"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44010923","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-14DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2121681
J. McSwiney
ABSTRACT This paper analyses the organisation of two Australian far-right political parties: Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (FACNP) and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON). Based on semi-structured interviews with election candidates and office bearers and an analysis of official party documents, I examine how these parties manage their internal organisation and cope with problems of collective choice. I argue that their organisational practices are characterised by disorganisation. Namely, a lack of meaningful organisational structures and procedures, a core of socialised activists, andcoherent decision-making processes. By focusing on campaign mobilisation at the expense of party building, I argue that their disorganisation is inseparable from their muted electoral performance at the 2019 Australian federal election.
{"title":"Organising Australian far-right parties: Pauline Hanson’s One Nation and Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party","authors":"J. McSwiney","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2121681","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2121681","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This paper analyses the organisation of two Australian far-right political parties: Fraser Anning’s Conservative National Party (FACNP) and Pauline Hanson’s One Nation (PHON). Based on semi-structured interviews with election candidates and office bearers and an analysis of official party documents, I examine how these parties manage their internal organisation and cope with problems of collective choice. I argue that their organisational practices are characterised by disorganisation. Namely, a lack of meaningful organisational structures and procedures, a core of socialised activists, andcoherent decision-making processes. By focusing on campaign mobilisation at the expense of party building, I argue that their disorganisation is inseparable from their muted electoral performance at the 2019 Australian federal election.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"37 - 52"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49544186","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-06DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2117017
Alastair Stark, Helen Punter, B. Zarrabi
ABSTRACT This article examines the extent to which twenty-first century, federal-level Royal Commissions in Australia have been implemented. The findings have been produced from a three-year project which has operationalised a two-stage methodology. Stage one tracked 444 Royal Commission recommendations across six cases to determine the proportion that was implemented or ‘shelved’ by the government. Stage two interviewed key stakeholders with an interest in each Commission to ascertain whether they propelled substantive policy reforms and the reasons which might explain their success or failure in this regard. Both methods led to a conclusion that Australian Royal Commissions have not been extensively implemented in the twenty-first century. This finding is explained by ‘classic’ political science explanations and more contemporary policy-orientated explanations, which both suggest that inquiries would do well to future-proof their recommendations from hostile public sector environments if they wish them to be more frequently implemented.
{"title":"A return to the classics? The implementation of royal commissions in Australia","authors":"Alastair Stark, Helen Punter, B. Zarrabi","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2117017","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2117017","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT This article examines the extent to which twenty-first century, federal-level Royal Commissions in Australia have been implemented. The findings have been produced from a three-year project which has operationalised a two-stage methodology. Stage one tracked 444 Royal Commission recommendations across six cases to determine the proportion that was implemented or ‘shelved’ by the government. Stage two interviewed key stakeholders with an interest in each Commission to ascertain whether they propelled substantive policy reforms and the reasons which might explain their success or failure in this regard. Both methods led to a conclusion that Australian Royal Commissions have not been extensively implemented in the twenty-first century. This finding is explained by ‘classic’ political science explanations and more contemporary policy-orientated explanations, which both suggest that inquiries would do well to future-proof their recommendations from hostile public sector environments if they wish them to be more frequently implemented.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"19 - 36"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48418237","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2112654
A. Nethery, Z. Nwokora, Peter A. Ferguson, M. Clarke
ABSTRACT A career in parliament is inherently a transitory vocation, and parliamentary turnover is critical for a healthy democracy. Yet many MPs fail to prepare for the time when they must leave parliament. This lack of preparedness exacerbates the challenges of post-parliamentary life. Drawing on research conducted with former members of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, this article reports on the experiences of MPs leaving parliament. Former MPs, particularly those who leave the parliament involuntarily, experience serious challenges including a loss of identity, a fracturing of social relationships, and employment and financial stress. These outcomes may have democratic implications by discouraging highly capable candidates from diverse backgrounds from pursuing a career in parliament. Acknowledging that the role of modern parliaments is expanding well beyond their traditional purview, we offer practical recommendations to mitigate these issues.
{"title":"Politics as a transitory vocation: a case study of the post-parliamentary challenges experienced by former Victorian MPs","authors":"A. Nethery, Z. Nwokora, Peter A. Ferguson, M. Clarke","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2112654","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2112654","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT A career in parliament is inherently a transitory vocation, and parliamentary turnover is critical for a healthy democracy. Yet many MPs fail to prepare for the time when they must leave parliament. This lack of preparedness exacerbates the challenges of post-parliamentary life. Drawing on research conducted with former members of the Parliament of Victoria, Australia, this article reports on the experiences of MPs leaving parliament. Former MPs, particularly those who leave the parliament involuntarily, experience serious challenges including a loss of identity, a fracturing of social relationships, and employment and financial stress. These outcomes may have democratic implications by discouraging highly capable candidates from diverse backgrounds from pursuing a career in parliament. Acknowledging that the role of modern parliaments is expanding well beyond their traditional purview, we offer practical recommendations to mitigate these issues.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"57 1","pages":"403 - 419"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47475561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01Epub Date: 2022-05-05DOI: 10.1007/s00393-022-01206-4
M Grohs, F C Moazedi-Fuerst, H Flick, K Hackner, A Haidmayer, S Handzhiev, H Kiener, J Löffler-Ragg, G Mathis, G Mostbeck, O Schindler, G Widmann, H Prosch
Lung involvement is the most frequent cause of death in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). As lung involvement is frequently asymptomatic, the current recommendation is to carry out thoracic computed tomography (CT) in all patients newly diagnosed with SSc. There is currently disagreement on how patients with SSc for whom no lung involvement was found at the time of diagnosis, should be followed up. Based on a consensus of Austrian rheumatologists, pneumologists and radiologists it is recommended that for asymptomatic patients with a negative CT at the time of initial diagnosis, a transthoracic ultrasound examination should be carried out annually and a lung function examination every 6-12 months. In the presence of a positive lung ultrasound finding a supplementary CT for further clarification is recommended. Based on the data situation, annual CT follow-up controls are recommended for patients with a high risk as defined by appropriate risk factors.
{"title":"[Value of CT and transthoracic lung ultrasound in patients with systemic sclerosis : Joint statement of the ÖRG/ÖGP/ÖGR/ÖGUM].","authors":"M Grohs, F C Moazedi-Fuerst, H Flick, K Hackner, A Haidmayer, S Handzhiev, H Kiener, J Löffler-Ragg, G Mathis, G Mostbeck, O Schindler, G Widmann, H Prosch","doi":"10.1007/s00393-022-01206-4","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s00393-022-01206-4","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lung involvement is the most frequent cause of death in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc). As lung involvement is frequently asymptomatic, the current recommendation is to carry out thoracic computed tomography (CT) in all patients newly diagnosed with SSc. There is currently disagreement on how patients with SSc for whom no lung involvement was found at the time of diagnosis, should be followed up. Based on a consensus of Austrian rheumatologists, pneumologists and radiologists it is recommended that for asymptomatic patients with a negative CT at the time of initial diagnosis, a transthoracic ultrasound examination should be carried out annually and a lung function examination every 6-12 months. In the presence of a positive lung ultrasound finding a supplementary CT for further clarification is recommended. Based on the data situation, annual CT follow-up controls are recommended for patients with a high risk as defined by appropriate risk factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"52 1","pages":"610-618"},"PeriodicalIF":0.9,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9468076/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"82250886","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-09-01DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2114873
Meagan Auer, Linda Trimble, Jennifer Curtin, Rissa Reist, Angelia Wagner, V. Woodman
ABSTRACT Journalists have the power to shape the public’s perception of new premiers. They also share that power with the sources they interview. Sourcing is therefore important when making claims about the news media’s role in reproducing gender biases in representations of political leaders. We examine the question of sourcing through an analysis of newspaper coverage of 22 newly elected women and men subnational government leaders in Australia and Canada to answer the following questions. How do news writers rely on sources in evaluations of new premiers? To what extent do they employ different patterns of sourcing and are these sourcing patterns gendered? We focus on two pairs of leadership traits that dominate news coverage of premiers in the first week: strength/weakness and competence/incompetence. We find that journalists use unattributed assessments rather than sources when evaluating premiers’ skills and abilities, but when sources are cited, these are usually elite men.
{"title":"Getting straight to the source: who evaluates the leadership skills of premiers in Canada and Australia?","authors":"Meagan Auer, Linda Trimble, Jennifer Curtin, Rissa Reist, Angelia Wagner, V. Woodman","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2114873","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2114873","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Journalists have the power to shape the public’s perception of new premiers. They also share that power with the sources they interview. Sourcing is therefore important when making claims about the news media’s role in reproducing gender biases in representations of political leaders. We examine the question of sourcing through an analysis of newspaper coverage of 22 newly elected women and men subnational government leaders in Australia and Canada to answer the following questions. How do news writers rely on sources in evaluations of new premiers? To what extent do they employ different patterns of sourcing and are these sourcing patterns gendered? We focus on two pairs of leadership traits that dominate news coverage of premiers in the first week: strength/weakness and competence/incompetence. We find that journalists use unattributed assessments rather than sources when evaluating premiers’ skills and abilities, but when sources are cited, these are usually elite men.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"58 1","pages":"1 - 18"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44016346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-08-05DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2107485
Babet de Groot
ABSTRACT Australia is increasingly regarded as out of step in the global effort to combat climate change. Even the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Government, considered the climate-friendly alternative to the conservative Coalition, failed to deliver robust climate action from 2007 to 2013. This paper aims to validate the promising progressive rhetoric of the ALP Government from 2007 to 2013 to understand whether its commitment to climate action was genuine. It incorporates mixed methods to verify ALP attitudes to the environment and demonstrate the incidence of changing attitudes. This paper finds that the ALP deviated from ecocentrism in its framing of environment priorities towards a weak ecological modernisation approach to mitigation. This inconsistency suggests that climate change mitigation was an arbitrary priority for the ALP, rather than a cornerstone of its party platform.
{"title":"Does the Australian Labor Party care about climate change? A content analysis of ALP attitudes towards the environment from 2007 to 2013","authors":"Babet de Groot","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2107485","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2107485","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Australia is increasingly regarded as out of step in the global effort to combat climate change. Even the Australian Labor Party (ALP) Government, considered the climate-friendly alternative to the conservative Coalition, failed to deliver robust climate action from 2007 to 2013. This paper aims to validate the promising progressive rhetoric of the ALP Government from 2007 to 2013 to understand whether its commitment to climate action was genuine. It incorporates mixed methods to verify ALP attitudes to the environment and demonstrate the incidence of changing attitudes. This paper finds that the ALP deviated from ecocentrism in its framing of environment priorities towards a weak ecological modernisation approach to mitigation. This inconsistency suggests that climate change mitigation was an arbitrary priority for the ALP, rather than a cornerstone of its party platform.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"57 1","pages":"386 - 402"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-08-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47724854","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-03DOI: 10.1080/10361146.2022.2122774
Edward Hurcombe, J. Meese
ABSTRACT Disinformation and misinformation on social media platforms are growing regulatory concerns for governments. In this paper, we examine Australia’s DIGI Code of Practice (CoP). The CoP is a voluntary set of commitments to address false content on platforms that is overseen by Australia’s digital media industry. It was established in response to a federal government directive. We evaluate the DIGI CoP by comparing it to the code it was partially based on: the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation (EU CPD). The EU CPD also attempted voluntary regulation, and yet the EU is now moving towards a strengthened CPD. While the DIGI CoP improves upon the original EU CPD, the original version had limited accountability measures and notable content exclusions. We conclude by discussing a recent review of the CoP, suggesting that Australia will also strengthen regulation in this area. Lastly, we address ongoing tensions around media freedom and accountability.
{"title":"Australia’s DIGI Code: what can we learn from the EU experience?","authors":"Edward Hurcombe, J. Meese","doi":"10.1080/10361146.2022.2122774","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/10361146.2022.2122774","url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT Disinformation and misinformation on social media platforms are growing regulatory concerns for governments. In this paper, we examine Australia’s DIGI Code of Practice (CoP). The CoP is a voluntary set of commitments to address false content on platforms that is overseen by Australia’s digital media industry. It was established in response to a federal government directive. We evaluate the DIGI CoP by comparing it to the code it was partially based on: the EU’s Code of Practice on Disinformation (EU CPD). The EU CPD also attempted voluntary regulation, and yet the EU is now moving towards a strengthened CPD. While the DIGI CoP improves upon the original EU CPD, the original version had limited accountability measures and notable content exclusions. We conclude by discussing a recent review of the CoP, suggesting that Australia will also strengthen regulation in this area. Lastly, we address ongoing tensions around media freedom and accountability.","PeriodicalId":46913,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Political Science","volume":"57 1","pages":"297 - 307"},"PeriodicalIF":1.2,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"46833747","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}