When Effort Becomes Optional: AI, Productive Friction, and the Case for Redesigning Higher Education
Author/editor:Verónica Fraile del Álamo and Darren J. Lim
Year published:2026
Artificial Intelligence’s (AI’s) central challenge to higher education is not a detection problem or a compliance problem, but an incentive problem. By removing the productive friction, the struggle, failed drafts, slow accumulation of understanding, through which students develop judgment, AI has…
From GST to gambling to gun buybacks, Australia’s federation isn’t working
Author/editor:Tracy Beck Fenwick
Year published:2026
GST distribution. National Disability Insurance Scheme reforms. Data centre regulation. The national gun buyback. These are just some of the big policy challenges the federal government is trying to navigate with the states and territories, many of which were raised at this week’s meeting of…
Listening Well: Why AI-Assisted Public Engagement Is a Skill We Need
Author/editor:Beth Simone Noveck, Nicholas Biddle and Alex Fischer
Year published:2026
Two trends are converging in countries around the world. Public anxiety about artificial intelligence is growing while communities satisfaction in how they participate and shape government is declining. Emerging examples from Bogotá, Hamburg, Brazil, Mexico and elsewhere show how AI can sharply…
Towards a relational democracy in Australia: Key insights from the Human Government Workshop
Author/editor:Martin Stewart-Weeks, Alex Fischer, Maia Gould, Hugh Piper, Llewelyn Ross, Bonnie Shaw, Nicholas Biddle, Caroline Croser-Barlow and Geoff Mulgan
Year published:2026
This report provides a summary of the February 2026 Human Government Workshop, the fourth in a series originally convened by ANZSOG and ANU. This session was an opportunity for the inaugural ARDN Global Fellow, Sir Geoff Mulgan, to join ANZSOG Practice Fellow Martin Stewart-Weeks in a conversation…
Mapping the civic life journey (ARDN Report)
Author/editor:Llewelyn Ross, Alex Fischer, Brenton Prosser, Liz Vahtrick, Nick Biddle and Hugh Piper
Year published:2026
Australia's civic participation is declining, according to our current measurement tools. Volunteering rates are down, engagement in public forums and consultations is inconsistent, and membership rates in organisations are lower than a decade ago. While young people report sharply lower senses of…
Measuring Social Cohesion: Conceptual Fragmentation and Policy Consequences
Author/editor:Rouven Link, Matteo Vergani, Andrea Giovannetti, Simon Angus, Melanie Rayment, Nicholas Biddle, Hugh Piper, Alex Fischer
Year published:2026
Governments, academics, and communities have defined social cohesion through multiple, overlapping lenses, reflecting different policy objectives, disciplinary traditions, and national contexts. Across disciplines and public policy domains, these definitions vary substantially. For instance,…
Measuring Social Cohesion: Towards a Shared Measurement Framework for Social Cohesion in Australia
Author/editor:Matteo Vergani, Andrea Giovannetti, Rouven Link, Simon Angus, Melanie Rayment, Nicholas Biddle
Year published:2026
Public perceptions of Higher Education and its role in strengthening (and weakening) democracy in Australia
Author/editor:Professor Nicholas Biddle, Dr Alex Fischer, Professor Matthew Gray, Professor Geoff Mulgan, Professor Rabee Tourkey
Year published:2026
Australian higher education is internationally competitive and globally connected, yet domestically strained, politically contested, and increasingly judged through the lens of affordability, accessibility, and public value. We examine how Australians perceive their universities and, in particular,…
Information Manipulation and Harassment of Local Leaders: Impacts and Implications
Author/editor:Ika Trijsburg, Paul Costello
Year published:2026
The issue of targeted disinformation and harassment of local elected representatives is a local manifestation of broader societal trends. Harassment is enabled by new technologies and capabilities to manipulate information. This includes social media platforms as carriers and amplifiers, and…
Disasters and democratic resilience: evidence suggesting the need for a long-term community approach and new monitoring systems
Author/editor:Briony C. Rogers, Mark Duckworth, Elise Park, Simon Angus, Rebecca Wickes, Marc Ablong, Daniel P. Aldrich and Alex Fischer
Year published:2026
This discussion paper asks two questions: what do we know about how disasters affect social cohesion in Australia, and how can strengthening democratic resilience improve our capacity to prepare, respond and recover? As climate change causes extreme weather events like heatwaves, droughts and heavy…