CAfSA News no. 7 April 2026
International
The OECD Deliberative Democracy Database shows 733 deliberative processes worldwide registered since 2001. These are classified by the OECD mostly as Citizen Assemblies, Citizen Juries, Deliberative Polls or Planning Cells, as well as some other types. Of these, 41 are ‘institutionalised’ rather than ad hoc, which means they have an ongoing presence as or within an institution.
An example of one we haven’t reviewed before in this news bulletin is the Permanent Citizens’ Assembly on Climate in Brussels. Launched in early 2023, it has 100 randomly selected residents. Supported by climate experts and designed by G1000, the assembly works on rotating, citizen-chosen themes and provides recommendations that the Belgian government has committed to formally review.
The topics of the citizens’ panels are chosen each time by a group of 25 citizens randomly selected from the previous citizens’ panel. In the process, the citizens of the first panel pass the baton to the participants of the second.
In the UK, the Newham Permanent Citizen Council, established in 2020, has for the first time integrated citizens directly into local governance in a London borough, drawing inspiration from successful models like the East Belgian and Paris Permanent Citizen Councils.
Australia
Of the 733 processes listed on the OECD database, 70 took place in Australia, with the largest number through local government in Victoria due to the Local Government Act 2020 in that state requiring community engagement (section 55).
The report Enhancing Local Government Through Deliberative Democracy (Stone A, 2023), published by the Local Govt Assoc of Vic, is a very readable overview of examples of deliberative democracy in practice in Australia, the UK, Germany, Canada and Portland (Oregon, USA) up to 2019.
South Australia
The March 2026 SA election shows that support for the main parties continues to decline, especially for the Liberal Party. One message for the SA Government is that it needs to think more deeply about how to connect with its citizens. Mechanisms like CAs offer a brilliant opportunity to do just that. As disenchantment with political parties and politicians continues to spread, and growing inequality opens up more fractures in our society, deliberative democracy is a remedy just waiting to be applied. We have the skills and experience to do it, it just needs to be given a chance.
The CAfSA committee is in the process of organising a program of monthly evening events at the Conservation Council of SA rooms at 55 Exchange Place, Adelaide. Some of the meetings will have speakers (either live or via video link), while some evenings will be an exercise in deliberative democracy to demonstrate how a good event should run, as well as give people some real experience in the process. We hope this will help improve awareness and understanding of the real value and integrity of assemblies and other forms of deliberative democracy. Please join us, get the experience, and gain confidence in the process!
CAfSA co-chair Peter Martin is a guest writer in April in the substack of Canberra-based science writer Julian Cribb. See his article at https://cribb.substack.com/p/time-to-re-boot-democracy.
Emma Fletcher is Co-CEO of Australia’s leading deliberative democracy company – democracyCo. In this role she designs, and project manages large and complex engagement projects.
An award-winning writer, columnist, critic, academic, broadcaster, public intellectual and former political candidate. Dr Elizabeth Farrelly is trained in architecture and philosophy.
Nicholas Gruen, CEO of Lateral Economics is a widely published policy economist, entrepreneur and commentator. He has advised Cabinet Ministers, sat on Australia’s Productivity Commission and founded Lateral Economics and Peach Financial.
