Policy Development Committee

This page serves as an index and landing page for all Pirate Party Australia policy development activities.

Contacting the Policy Development Committee
If you would like to have your say on policy development we want to hear from you! Please send an email to:

policydev@pirateparty.org.au

Also if you want to contact any of the PDC working groups and you can't find an email address elsewhere then please feel free to send email to the address above and the appropriate person will reply to you.

Committee Members

 * David Crafti
 * Andrew Downing
 * Mark Gibbons (Policy Development Officer)
 * Daniel Judge
 * Rodney Serkowski
 * Melanie Thomas
 * Ben McGinnes
 * Brendan Molloy

What Is Happening Right Now
With our first federal election happening this year there is a lot going on in the Policy Development Committee (PDC). Over two meetings on the 23rd and 28th of January we created many working groups tasked with creating formal policy in many areas.

The working groups are outlined below and we strongly encourage you to get in touch with the chair of any group if you have an informed opinion on any of these matters or would like to help in any way. If you are unsure how to get in touch with someone then please feel free to just send an email to policydev@pirateparty.org.au describing what you need as all committee members receive the emails sent to that address.

Note that the list of policies currently under development is not set in stone and is far from exhaustive! We are always happy to hear from members who would like to see policy development in other areas.

PDC Meetings
PDC Meetings are currently held every second Wednesday night via IRC at irc.pirateirc.net in the #ppau-pdc channel. Feel free to drop into the channel at any time to chat about policy development. During meetings the channel may be moderated to keep the meeting running smoothly but everyone is welcome to observe.

Meeting Minutes

 * PDC Committee Meeting 9th January 2013
 * PDC Committee Meeting 23rd January 2013
 * PDC Committee Meeting 28th January 2013
 * PDC Committee Meeting 6th February 2013
 * PDC Committee Meeting 20th February 2013

PDC Terms Of Reference
The PDC was created and is governed by the Terms of Reference set by the National Council.

PDC Policy Development Process
The PDC follows a structured policy development process which ensures a uniform approach and allows all members to provide input.

Policy Working Groups
When the PDC decides that a certain policy needs to be written, a working group is formed by a motion at a PDC Meeting. The working group will have a chair person who is a member of the PDC and who is responsible for organising the working group and bringing the results back to the PDC. Participation in a working group is open to all members and we really need your help so please don't be shy! If you'd like to have input on a policy then by all means contact the chair of the working group. If in doubt you can always send email to policydev@pirateparty.org.au and we will make sure the right person contacts you.   Upcoming working group meetings 

Monday 25 February: Refugees working group (#PPAU-PDC; 8:00PM) Monday 25 February: Marriage act reform working group (#PPAU-PDC; 9:00PM) Tuesday 26 February: Patents working group (#PPAU-PDC; 9:00PM) Monday 4 March: Patents working group (#PPAU-PDC; 8:30PM)

Google calendar available here.

Policy: Decriminalize drugs and adopt a scientific, harm minimization approach as a public health issue

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Approved
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Prevent damage caused by the extraction of coal seam gas

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Approved
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: To formalise existing party views on copyright reform

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Improve protection for whistleblowers

 * Chair: David Crafti
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: A national standard feed-in tariff for solar energy generation

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: Draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Replace the Marriage Act with a Civil Unions Act

 * Chair: Melanie Thomas
 * Objectives: Draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Reform the taxation and transfer payments system to encourage innovation and job creation

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Abolish the current tax break for innovation and institute a new innovation program

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Drafted
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Hold a referendum for the purpose of introducing a bill of rights to the Australian constitution

 * Chair: Andrew Downing
 * Objectives: Draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: In development
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: To formalise existing party views on patent reform

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: In development
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: To abolish tax free status for religious institutions

 * Chair: Roderick Serkowski
 * Objectives: Draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: In development
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: Protect digital liberties and online privacy

 * Chair: Ben McGinnes
 * Objectives: detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: In development
 * Working Group's Wiki Page

Policy: An official method for Australians to directly petition their federal government for a change in law or other government policy

 * Chair: Andrew Downing
 * Objectives: A draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Not commenced

Policy: Remove any legal rights to discriminate from organisations receiving government funding

 * Chair: David Crafti
 * Objectives: A draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Not commenced

Research: Into libel and anti-discrimination laws to form policy recommendations for the protection of all citizens right to free speech

 * Chair: Mark Gibbons
 * Objectives: A report on policy recommendations
 * Status: Not commenced

Policy: Reform telecommunications regulation in such a way as to prevent predatory pricing

 * Chair: Sam Kearns
 * Objectives: A draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Not commenced

Policy: Requiring that when police detain a person, for any reason, there must be a paper trail which includes a receipt given to the detainee

 * Chair: David Crafti
 * Objectives: A draft proposal including detailed policy and polly tables
 * Status: Not commenced

Resources
The PDC has a Resources Wiki Page that contains links to useful information related to policy development.