12 steps to Labor reform – a petition from Open Labor & the Independents

The ALP needs to implement the following 12 steps to Labor reform to ensure the election of strong Labor governments and implement progressive policies for all Victorians.

In September 2020, Open Labor and the Independents plus over a 100 signatories called on Administrators Macklin and Bracks to recommend Victorian ALP rule changes to advance these 12 steps to Labor reform.

The Administrators completed their review Feb 2021 and some of these issues have been addressed. However most other tasks remain on the to do list. Still, the ALP Federal Executive Intervention into the Victorian Branch of the ALP is not yet over. Our proposed 12 steps to Labor reform through this enquiry are:

Integrity

Clean the party of branch stackers and members enlisted through branch stacking and put in place processes and rules to detect and prevent future stacking;steps
Appoint an independent ombudsman to investigate potential serious rules breaches and take warranted charges to a reformed and impartial Disputes Tribunal;
Guarantee democratic practices, including the conduct of all elections by secret ballot supported by robust and enforced rules, and the declaration by candidates of their factional and other party affiliations;

Respectful culture

Show the party respects and values its members by ensuring that they have input into important decisions and informs them of what has been decided and why;
Support members and branches by promoting their participation in party activities, openly communicating important and essential information, providing training for key roles and potential public office holders;

Democracy and good governance

Ensure a real say for members in ballots for candidates for both houses of State and Federal parliaments;
Prohibit interventions that remove the voting rights of party members in preselections except in unusual circumstances.
Reform the Administrative Committee so it is representative of the membership, operates democratically and reports and explains its decisions to members;
Ensure State Office is competent, and run by officials and staff appointed on their merits, who do not engage in factional activity while performing their formal party role;

Grow the membership

Adopt an inclusive strategy of supporting the operations of branches and other party bodies (such as LEAN, Young Labor and Rainbow Labor) to welcome, recruit, support and retain genuine members from all parts of the Australian community;
Establish a Membership Unit within the State Office dedicated to growing Labor’s membership and broadening its appeal, especially among groups where membership is low, including traditional Labor voters, young people and minority communities.
Increase the participation of individual affiliated unionists by giving them a direct say in party activities and votes, including election of the union’s State Conference delegates.

Download the 12 steps to Labor reform petition PDF.