To bring political parties under the type of accountability regime that befits their role in our system of government, at the very least the following reforms are needed.

The Commonwealth Electoral Act should be amended to require standard items be set out in a political party’s constitution to gain registration, similar to the requirements under Corporations Law for the constitution of companies.

Party constitutions should be required to specify the conditions and rules of party membership; how office bearers are pre-selected and selected; how pre-selection of candidates is conducted; the processes for the resolution of disputes and conflicts of interest; the processes for changing the constitution; and processes for administration and management.

Party constitutions should also provide for the rights of members in specified classes of membership to take part in the conduct of party affairs, either directly or through freely chosen representatives; to freely express choices about party matters, including the choice of candidates for elections; and to exercise a vote of equal value with the vote of any other members in the same class of membership.

Party constitutions should be open to public scrutiny and updated on the public register at least once every electoral cycle.

The AEC should be empowered to oversee all important ballots within political parties. At the very least, the law should permit them to do so at the request of a registered political party.

The AEC should also be empowered to investigate any allegations of a serious breach of a party constitution, and be able to apply an administrative penalty.

Changes to political governance such as these do not need COAG^[8] coordination, although its support would be welcome. Such reforms to Commonwealth law would inevitably flow onto the conduct of state political participants, since nearly all registered state participants are also registered federal parties.

Political parties are at least as significant to society as are corporations and trade unions, if not more so. Governance changes such as those outlined above have been tried, tested and found effective in the governance of corporations, unions and other entities. They would undoubtedly improve the performance and governance of politics in Australia. These are necessary reforms, but whether they would be sufficient on their own to produce a markedly more able and higher-calibre political class overall is uncertain. Other reforms, including constitutional changes, will need to be kept in mind.