Australia went to the polls on May 21 to vote in a Federal Election. According to the Australian Electoral Commission, 96.8% of eligible Australians were enrolled to vote, and on April 18, the deadline day for enrolments, 214,000 Australians enrolled marking a single-day record.
But while participation in democracy is flourishing, trust in government is at an all-time low. In 2019, the Australian Election Study reported that just 25% of participants thought that people in government could be trusted compared with 43% in 2004.
Why don’t we trust our government to do what is best for us? And how have everyday Australians taken society’s problems into their own hands? What can our political representatives do to restore trust in Australian democracy?