The Active Bills page will give voters a practical way to participate in decisions being considered by the Australian Parliament.

Instead of waiting until the next election to express a general preference between political parties, VoteWrap will allow voters to respond to individual bills while those bills are still before Parliament. Voters will also be able to see how their representatives and their wider community respond.

We are currently building the first phase of Active Bills.

Phase 1 will provide a simple implementation of VoteWrap in which participating voters and representatives can consider a bill as a whole and record their position.

For each active bill, participants will be able to:

• read an explanation of the bill and access its supporting information;
• record whether they support, oppose or are undecided on the bill;
• see the developing distribution of voter positions;
• compare the positions of voters and representatives; and
• change their position if further information or discussion changes their view.

This first phase will allow us to begin using VoteWrap in real parliamentary situations while the more detailed system is being developed.

It will also help us test the registration, voter-verification, representation, voting and results processes that will support the full VoteWrap platform.

Most bills are too complex to be understood through a single Yes or No question.

A voter may support the main purpose of a bill but disagree with one provision. Another voter may oppose the bill as written but support an alternative approach. Representatives may also agree on the problem while proposing different solutions.

Phase 2 will introduce the full VoteWrap model: a living map of the bill.

The whole bill will remain visible at the top level, but participants will be able to move progressively into its detail. The map may include:

• the purpose and principles of the bill;
• major parts and policy questions;
• individual provisions or areas of disagreement;
• proposed amendments and alternative solutions;
• supporting arguments, evidence and explanatory material; and
• the positions of voters and representatives at each level.

Rather than presenting the bill as a single block of legislation, the living map will show where agreement exists, where disagreement remains and which particular parts are affecting overall support.

As Parliament amends a bill and public discussion develops, the map will also evolve. This will make it possible to follow not only the final vote, but the reasoning, alternatives and changing democratic confidence behind it.

Active Bills is an important step towards a form of democracy in which voters remain meaningfully involved between elections.

It is not intended to replace Parliament or representative deliberation. It is intended to create a clearer and more accountable relationship between voters, their chosen representatives and the decisions being made in their name.

Phase 1 will establish the working foundation. Phase 2 will allow participants to explore the substance of legislation in much greater depth.

Together, they will demonstrate how VoteWrap can turn a parliamentary bill from a largely inaccessible document into a visible, navigable and continuously updated democratic process.

Historical prototype

The image below shows an earlier VoteWrap bills list. It is included as an example of the original concept rather than the final design of the new Active Bills page.

The new Active Bills page will build on this concept with improved bill information, voter and representative participation, results and, in Phase 2, a detailed living map of each bill.