In The Way In, Per Capita’s researchers look at the 47th Australian Parliament and ask whether it represents the Australian society it is meant to reflect.
Representation matters. Diversity in Parliament is important as it helps ensure those in power pursue an agenda that addresses the various and unique needs of the many different groups that make up Australian society whether they’re from different generations, socioeconomic and ethnic groups, genders, and beyond.
When those in power come from or interact only with those from culturally or demographically hegemonic backgrounds, they risk losing touch with the people they’re supposed to represent resulting in a disconnect between representative and community.
This sentiment is important, especially at a time when people around the world are becoming distrustful of democratic institutions.
Voters want their elected representatives to understand and empathise with their experiences. Australia is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse countries in the world and it is vital that our Parliament reflects this.
What’s more, we need a Parliament that is reflective of the increasing inequality of wealth and income that characterises the Australia of today.
Per Capita’s research outlines just how diverse the 47th Australian Parliament is.
Gender Representation
In a positive step forward, the 47th Parliament is the most gender-equal in Australia’s history, with women now making up 45% of parliament.
Women make up 52% of the Labor party while only 29% of Coalition MPs and Senators are women, testament to their lack of gender quotas.
Across the cross bench, women represent 67% of independents, 50% of the minor parties (not including the Greens).
This is a particularly special achievement. 24 September 2024 marks the 30-year anniversary of gender quotas being adopted at the Australian Labor Party (ALP) National Conference. These numbers prove they worked. The Labor Government is the first in Australia’s history to form a Federal Government with at least 50% women.
Ethnic Representation
A surge of new parliamentarians from non-European ethnic backgrounds, largely due to the election of new Labor candidates in marginal seats, have influenced the makeup of the latest Parliament.
Our current Federal Parliament has 60 parliamentarians with at least one non-English-speaking ancestry making it far more diverse than the previous one.
However, there is still some way to go to truly represent the cultural and ethnic diversity within Australia’s population.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people remain proportionally represented. 4.4% of parliamentarians identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander, which remains proportionally higher than the 3.2% of the Australian population who identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander at the 2021 Census.
However, only three of the top 10 most common non-English-speaking ancestries are proportionally representative of the wider Australian population (or higher) – Greek, Italian and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
Generational Representation
Striking a balance between generational cohorts helps create policies that can foster intergenerational understanding and cooperation and promote social cohesion. Younger parliamentarians might bring fresh perspectives and a keen awareness of evolving societal dynamics while older parliamentarians bring experience and broader knowledge of the machinations of governance.
The Australian Parliament has some representation from Gen Z (1995-2009) with Senator Fatima Payman being the first member of Gen Z to enter Federal Parliament at the 2022 election. On the other end of the spectrum, Bob Katter MP, remains as the last of the Builders (sometimes referred to as the Silent Generation <1946).
The Greens show the most balance across the three main generational cohorts. Currently the Greens have five members from Gen Y while Labor has 24 and the Coalition has 13.
Pathways to Parliament
Australia has a much higher rate of private education across different socio-economic cohorts than in comparable countries.
In Australia, 57% of secondary school students are enrolled in government schools, 20% in private independent schools, and 23% in Catholic schools.
A higher proportion of parliamentarians attended private independent schools for secondary education than the share of Australian students attending a private independent secondary school at the time of the 2021 Census. The Labor Party and the Greens display a larger proportion of parliamentarians that attended government schools .
85% of members of the 47th Parliament holds at least one post-school qualification with nearly a third having a postgraduate degree and 40% having a graduate-level qualification or higher.
Beyond their education, Parliamentarians in the 47th Parliament overwhelmingly have professional backgrounds. Almost 20% of the 47th Parliament has at some point worked as a lawyer (solicitor or barrister).
As the party of workers, 33% of Labor parliamentarians have a trade union background (as either staff or elected officials), and many of those started work on the shop floor.
Read the full report here: https://percapita.org.au/our_work/the-way-in-representation-in-the-47th-australian-parliament/
