Australia's democratic beliefs are a specific list of four: parliamentary democracy, the rule of law, living peacefully, and respect for all individuals regardless of background. They are not the same as the freedoms (speech and expression, association, religion) or the equalities (gender equality, and equality of opportunity — the "fair go"), even though all three groups sit in the same part of the booklet. Keeping the three lists apart is what makes values questions straightforward.
"Democratic beliefs" sounds like a mood rather than a syllabus, which is why this part of the material tends to get read once and nodded at.
It is in fact a short, specific list. Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond names four democratic beliefs, and then — separately — a set of freedoms and a set of equalities. Three lists, one part of the booklet. Most of the difficulty people have with values questions comes from having merged them into a single warm impression.
This guide takes the four beliefs one at a time, then draws the line between them and the other two lists.
Where this sits, and why it matters
At the citizenship ceremony you pledge to share Australia's democratic beliefs and respect its rights and liberties. Part 2 of the booklet exists to set out what you are pledging to.
It contains three groups:
- Our democratic beliefs — four items, covered below
- Our freedoms — freedom of speech and expression, freedom of association, freedom of religion
- Our equalities — gender equality, and equality of opportunity, often called a "fair go"
A question can be answered wrongly simply by reaching into the wrong group. That is a memory-organisation problem rather than a knowledge problem, and it is fixable in an evening.
The four democratic beliefs
Parliamentary democracy
Australia's system of government is a parliamentary democracy. The power of the government comes from the Australian people, because Australian citizens vote for people to represent them in parliament. Those representatives must answer to the people, through elections, for the decisions they make.
The idea to hold on to is the direction of authority. Power flows upward from the people to the parliament, not downward from the government to the people, and elections are the mechanism that keeps it flowing that way.
The rule of law
All Australians are equal under the law. The rule of law means that no person, group or religious rule is above the law. Everyone must obey Australia's laws, including people who hold positions of power — government, community and religious leaders, business people, and the police.
The list of who is included is the testable part. It would be easy to read "everyone must obey the law" as a platitude; the booklet's point is sharper, and it is specifically that holding power, religious authority or wealth creates no exemption.
Living peacefully
Australians are proud to live in a peaceful country with a stable system of government. Change, on this view, should come through discussion, peaceful persuasion and the democratic process. Violence is rejected as a way to change a person's mind or the law.
Note the two objects in that last sentence. It is not only violence to change the law that is rejected, but violence to change a person's mind — which is why this belief connects directly to the limits placed on the freedoms.
Respect for all individuals regardless of background
Australia's democratic system is based on the principle that every individual, regardless of background, has rights and equality under Australian law. All Australians are expected to treat each other with dignity and respect.
The booklet spells out what "regardless of background" covers: race, country of origin, gender, sexual orientation, marital status, age, disability, heritage, culture, politics, wealth and religion.
That is a long list and it is not worth memorising word for word. What is worth noticing is its breadth — it reaches well beyond the categories people expect, taking in politics and wealth as well as the more familiar grounds.
The thread running through all four
Read together, the four beliefs make a single argument, and seeing it makes them much easier to recall than four separate items.
Authority comes from the people (parliamentary democracy). It is exercised through law that binds everyone equally, including the powerful (the rule of law). Disagreement is settled by persuasion rather than force (living peacefully). And the whole arrangement rests on treating every person as entitled to the same standing (respect for all individuals).
Each belief is what makes the next one workable. A democracy where the powerful were above the law would not deliver equality; equality under law without peaceful means of change would not last.
How the beliefs differ from the freedoms and equalities
Three distinctions are worth being able to make quickly.
Beliefs describe the system. Freedoms describe what you may do. Parliamentary democracy and the rule of law are statements about how Australia is arranged. Freedom of speech, association and religion are statements about what individuals are at liberty to do within it.
Every freedom carries the same limit. The booklet repeats it each time: at all times, the laws of Australia must be obeyed. You may criticise the government, protest peacefully, campaign to change laws, express views through art, film, music and literature, join any legal organisation or none, and follow any religion or none — while still obeying the law. Where an Australian law and a religious practice conflict, Australian law prevails.
Equalities are about outcomes not being determined by category. Men and women have equal rights, and it is against the law to discriminate on the basis of gender. Equality of opportunity — the "fair go" — is the idea that what someone achieves should follow from their talents, work and effort rather than their wealth or background, so that there are no formal class distinctions.
Why precision pays here
All five Australian values questions must be answered correctly to pass, which makes this material different from the rest. Elsewhere in the test you have a margin; here you do not.
The good news is that values questions are not usually about recalling an obscure fact. They tend to describe a situation and ask which principle it illustrates, or ask whether a described action is consistent with Australian values. Both are much easier when the three lists are distinct in your mind, because the question is effectively asking you to name the right category.
Our guide to Australian values questions in the citizenship test covers how that question style works in more detail.
Three confusions worth clearing up
A belief is not a right you can invoke. Living peacefully is a description of how Australians expect change to happen, not a legal entitlement. Freedom of speech is a freedom. Mixing the categories is the single most common source of error in this section.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from the law. The booklet is explicit that the laws of Australia must be obeyed at all times, and that gatherings must be peaceful and must not injure any person or damage property.
"Secular government" does not mean a country without religion. The booklet says Australia has a Judaeo-Christian heritage, that many Australians describe themselves as Christians, that there are people from all the large religions, and that there are public holidays on Christian days. Secular means the government operates separately from churches and other religious entities, and that there is no official national religion.
Check yourself
Cover the article and answer:
- Name the four democratic beliefs.
- Under the rule of law, who must obey Australian laws?
- According to the booklet, how should change occur in Australia?
- Name the three freedoms.
- What limit applies to every one of those freedoms?
- What does a "fair go" mean?
- What happens where an Australian law conflicts with a religious practice?
Anything that took real effort belongs in your revision list. The responsibilities and privileges of citizenship sit in the same part of the booklet and are worth learning alongside these, because questions often move between the two.
Before the test
Learn the four beliefs as a list, then learn the argument that connects them — the list is what a question names, and the argument is what stops you forgetting an item under pressure.
Home Affairs publishes the booklet and updates it periodically, so work from the current edition on the official website rather than from an older copy or a summary.