Something I must clear up before I go on, and one that some of my readers have asked me about. Why do I keep coming back to the statement that there is almost always “a version of this…”? Humans have a heuristic called “cognitive ease,” or the “Law of Least Effort.” There is always a simpler version, and while it provides an explanation, it often misses the importance of what is happening. These blog posts and articles aim to explain these matters in a little more depth to he

How a Bill Actually Becomes Law in NSW Most civics lessons describe lawmaking as a single event: politicians vote, a bill passes, it becomes law. That account isn't inaccurate. It's just missing the nine places where the process actually happens, and the four where a bill can die before it ever reaches the Governor's desk. There is a version of this explainer that walks through the stages in order and calls it done. This is not that explainer. The stages matter less than the

On 11 August 2026, every person in Australia will be counted. For the veteran community, one question on that form carries more weight than most; and the case for answering it has nothing to do with trusting the department that failed you. There may be a version of this article that opens by telling veterans they should have more faith in government. This is not that article. The distrust many veterans hold toward the institutions that administered their service is not a mood

Often, I hear that politicians, or politics, should answer to the ordinary people rather than the distant elite – a claim with an honourable place in every democracy. What I am hearing is a form of Populism at its root, without the addition of “corrupt elites”, and while it is not a new term, it is not, by itself, a dirty word. Populism is in a delicate dance with Liberal Democracy, which requires checks and balances; a duet that has strong potential to work well together.

The debate opened, appropriately, with an acknowledgment that the discussion would touch on suicide and self-harm, and an explicit invitation to leave the chamber at any point. Worth noting before anything else: the chamber modelled the exact kind of trauma-informed practice the bill itself was arguing for. These Youth Members led by example, not only through what they said, but also through how they acted. How everyone, adult or youth, should act. The Bill on the table The s

Youth Parliament's National Matter of Public Importance debate, Chaired by The Hon. Matt Cross, MP, this year put a single motion to roughly a hundred young parliamentarians: that housing instability in Australia is a key factor undermining social and community cohesion. Over the course of an hour, more than thirty speakers rose to argue it. Remarks and speeches were prepared, rehearsed, and delivered with passion and conviction we often see in Question Time on TV. The motion

The NSW Parliament House, Sydney The NSW Youth Parliament marked its 25th anniversary this month with an opening ceremony in the Legislative Council chamber — the oldest parliamentary chamber in Australia. Presiding over the ceremony was the Honourable Ben Franklin, President of the NSW Legislative Council. On paper, opening ceremonies are formalities. What actually happened was a masterclass, delivered by adults holding real institutional power, on what representative democr

Twenty teenagers stood up in NSW Parliament and delivered private member statements on twenty different, independently researched issues — no speechwriters, no party line. What stood out wasn’t the topics. It was the pattern: nearly every “crisis” they raised wasn’t an awareness problem, it was a systems problem. The ask, again and again, was “fund the follow-through,” not “raise awareness.” That’s a sophisticated policy distinction for a room full of teenagers to reach on th

By Bain Dohne CEO & Founder, The Odyssey Leadership Foundation Housing. Artificial intelligence. Mental health. Family violence. Youth homelessness. Hate crime. These are not the talking points from a school debate. They are the bills before the 2026 Y NSW Youth Parliament, and between 14 and 16 July, they will be debated in the actual Legislative Assembly and Legislative Council chambers at NSW Parliament, 6 Macquarie Street, Sydney. The authors are 15 to 18 years old. They

I've spent a career being briefed on systems designed to fail gracefully. Aircraft have redundancies. Command structures have fallbacks. Good design assumes something will go wrong and plans for it anyway. Australia's electoral system is one of the best pieces of political engineering most Australians have never actually understood. We complain about it every three years; usually, it's about the two main parties, or "the Prime Minister is …..", (ironic that every single one s

Every year, Australians pour tens of billions of dollars into American equity markets through exchange-traded funds, managed funds, and platform accounts. The argument is compelling on its face: the S&P 500 is the global benchmark. It has delivered extraordinary long-run returns. Since Hon. Jim Chalmers stood in parliament to deliver the 26/27 budget proposal, rhetoric has been sharply divided, often misguided and misinformed. So, why would any informed investor look elsewher

Published 8 June 2026, by Bain Dohne, CEO and Founder 3 June was Mabo Day. For Australians worldwide, if it passed without much notice in your corner of the globe, you are not alone. For a decision of its magnitude — one that fundamentally reordered Australia's legal relationship with its own history — Mabo Day receives surprisingly little sustained public attention. It is marked, briefly, and then overtaken by the pace of the day. That is worth examining. What Was Decided, a

Published by the Odyssey Leadership Foundation Written by Bain Döhne - CEO & Founder Few topics generate more heat in Australian public discourse than immigration. It is raised at election time, in talkback radio segments, across social media feeds, and increasingly in the policy platforms of minor and now major parties. Party leaders are quoting comments from the general public as fact, rather than referring to legislation, thereby furthering misinformation rather than clear

ANZAC Day is a day of remembrance. It is also a moment of responsibility. Each year, Australians pause to honour service and sacrifice. But remembrance also comes with an obligation: to ask whether we are doing enough, in practical terms, to meet the commitments we make to Defence members, veterans, and their families. This year, that question carries real weight. In September 2024, the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide handed down its final report, a se

TREK4VETS 2023 This Friday night, while much of Newcastle sleeps, a group of us will set out from Redhead Beach with head torches, hiking packs, and the long night ahead. By the time we reach Nobby's Beach, it will be close to dawn. We will fold into a crowd that often runs more than fifty thousand strong, and we'll stand for the Newcastle ANZAC Day Dawn Service. The walk is called Midnight2Dawn. It is run by Trek4Vets — a not-for-profit that exists for one reason: to bridge

Housing, Incentives and the Leadership Question We’re Avoiding The AFR headline was blunt: “No affordable houses for first home buyers.” That is not a cultural complaint. It is a structural signal. For most of Australia’s post-war history, housing functioned as a stabiliser. A median income could plausibly buy a median home. Ownership was not effortless — but it was attainable without inheritance. That alignment has shifted. Over the past two decades, dwelling values have gro

A blog post regarding the unveiling of the hidden threats to democracy and the likelihood of repeating history.

When leaders chose explanation over applause Something you rarely see anymore is a national leader deliberately stepping into a hostile crowd not to rally supporters, but to explain an unpopular decision. On 16 June 1996, a cricket field in the small Victorian town of Sale was filled with angry people. The headline speaker was Prime Minister John Howard. Police advised him not to attend. One senior adviser urged him to wear a bulletproof vest. The crowd was furious, man

On 10 December 2025, Australia became the first country in the world to introduce a nationwide ban on social media accounts for anyone under 16. Depending on your perspective, this move is either a bold step in leadership or a troubling sign of something worse. https://digitalrightswatch.org.au/2025/12/03/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-social-media-ban/ The truth is not simple, and this moment highlights the need for better civics, conversations, and leadership from adults.

Recently, I’ve been asked a question that goes straight to the heart of philanthropy: “Why should I donate to a charity, especially one where I cannot see the impact?” It’s an honest question, and in the dopamine-driven world of instant feedback and short attention spans, it deserves an honest answer. Why charitable organisations exist Charitable organisations exist to address unmet public needs and social or environmental problems. In plain terms, they step into the gaps tha