As the government brings its new hate laws to parliament, it’s worth remembering past attempts suggest legislation used to outlaw political groups have been neither wise nor necessary Australia’s history of banning political groups gives pause for thought as to whether we really want to go down this route again. During the first world war, the Unlawful Associations Act 1916 was enacted and used to ban a group called Industrial Workers of the World. Membership was made a criminal offence. Members could also be deported if they were not British subjects born in Australia. Anne Twomey is a Professor emerita in constitutional law at the University of Sydney Continue reading...

For the final blog post of 2025, I wanted to look at a question that has come up regularly in the comments, and on psephological websites: how meaningful is the two-party-preferred vote, particular…

School of Political Science and International Studies (POLSIS) 5x Fixed term positions available at variable FTE levels Teaching focused – Semester 1 & 2 in 2026 Base salary will be in the range $...

When the new electoral map was published in 1984, it kicked off a game of musical chairs, but with a difference – this time there were more seats than players. Some of these seats were more a…

Canberra Liberals leader Leanne Castley has immediately suspended Elizabeth Lee and Peter Cain from the party room, and is seeking to remove them permanently.

If there is a substantial expansion of the size of the federal Parliament, it will be a rare event. It has only happened twice before since federation, and hasn’t happened at all in my lifeti…

Social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter/X have become central to political communication, yet their role in mobilising specific demographic segments remains underexplored. WeChat, widely u...

Join our free webinar for key insights into housing and politics—ideal for researchers, students, and policymakers tackling Australia's housing crisis.