Welcome to Australia's first national community-based futures planning process
We have it in our power to create the world anew
National Collaborative Constitutional Convention
Welcome to the National Collaborative Process for The Australian People's Constitution
In November 2023, ACFP published a proposal for the conduct of a National Collaborative Process for Development of a New Australian Constitution - The Australian People's Constitution.
The proposal was made pursuant to publication by ACFP's Founder Bronwyn Kelly of The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy.
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Developments in association with the proposed program of nation-wide community engagement and collaboration, which is envisaged as a five-year long constitutional convention led by the people of Australia rather than parliaments or governments, are accessible on this page.
The seven-step program for a new Australian Constitution
ACFP has suggested that Australians could conduct an orderly collaboration over five years to build a new Constitution - one fit for a 21st century democracy of political equals. Download the latest program here.
The seven steps in summary:
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The Australian Senate issues a charter for independent conduct of the collaborative process.
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Independent facilitators prepare a Green Paper on issues and an orderly program for the entire collaboration.
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The Green Paper is issued and time is allowed for feedback from the Australian public.
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Feedback on the Green Paper is used to design draft objectives and chapter headings for a new Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy of political equals. The program and timetable for the nation-wide collaboration is revised and promoted with invitations for everyone to become involved. It's their Constitution.
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The nation-wide collaborative design of essential components of the new constitution begins.
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As each component is designed, the independent facilitators arrange the conduct of non-binding plebiscites, statistically valid nation-wide opinion surveys or other forms of valid survey to determine support for each component.
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The Senate is then charged with design of an agenda for a sequence of referendums as required on each of the components. The people decide.
Download the latest draft of the seven-step program for making a new Australian Constitution - by collaboration.
March 2024 - Background paper:
Will Australia's Constitution help Australians make the Vision for Australia Together a reality?
In 2024, ACFP undertook an analysis of Australia's Constitution to determine whether it is suitable as a founding document for the nation that provides a sound, democratic governance system capable of helping Australians build a better future for Australia, consistent with the Vision for Australia Together. Find the results in this ACFP Fact Sheet: How is Australia's Constitution inconsistent with the Vision for Australia Together?
The purpose of the analysis was to answer this question:
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If the draft Vision for Australia Together is what Australians value and want for their future, is the Constitution going to help them make that Vision a reality?
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The short answer is: No. ACFP analysed whether the Vision for Australia Together reflects what Australians have said they want for their future here. We found that:
The Vision for Australia Together is aligned with what Australians value and want for their future but the Constitution is not.
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The Australian Constitution is at odds with the Vision for Australia Together - in other words, the Constitution is incapable of helping Australians make the Vision a reality, primarily because:
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it offers the people no rightful share of power in their own country and therefore fails to establish democracy in Australia;
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it offers Australians few if any human rights and no protection from abuse of their rights by the state;
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it does not identify the people of Australia as the source of sovereignty;
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it makes no provision granting them a voice in their own governance; and thereby
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it renders Australians incapable of developing terms of trust with those they elect - a vital necessity to the accountability of governments.
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The analysis strongly suggested that with the current Constitution Australians will be forced to travel away from the Vision for Australia Together, but with a new People’s Constitution they can make the Vision a reality.​
November 2023 - Launch of draft program for the collaborative convention for The Australian People's Constitution
Find the first draft of the proposed program for a National Collaborative Process for the Development of a New Australian Constitution - The Australian People's Constitution.
November 2023 - Launch of a four-part essay on how Australians can save their democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution
In this four-part essay, ACFP's Founder Bronwyn Kelly discusses how Australians are being dragged into a full ceding of sovereignty over their country and how, if we do nothing to reverse this, we will end up losing our democracy itself. She offers evidence in the essay that we are on the brink of losing both our sovereignty and democracy. To help prevent this loss, Bronwyn suggests that Australia needs a new type of Constitution and to substantiate this need, she poses four questions:
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Why does Australia need a new Constitution?
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What’s wrong with our democracy?
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How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty?
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How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals?
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The answers can help Australians establish a new democracy and take back their sovereignty over their beautiful country.
Click here for a full transcript of the all four parts of the essay.
Listen to the essay on Episodes 40, 41, 42 and 43 of the Australia Together Podcast.
Australia Day 2023 - Release of The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy
The People's Constitution by ACFP Founder Bronwyn Kelly provides the background to the need for The Australian People's Constitution and significant detail on how Australians can build it.
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Find The People's Constitution here.
Listen to a full reading of The People's Constitution by the author here.
