Hacking democracy and playing the long game
Channel: linux conf au 2017 - Hobart, Australia
Date: 23/01/2017

Luke Bacon
http://linux.conf.au/schedule/presentation/54/
Imagine the future you want for our societies and democracy. You can start building the tools and services of that future today.

For 8 years the [OpenAustralia Foundation](https://www.openaustraliafoundation.org.au/) has run open source projects to transform democracy. We’re a tiny team but millions of people have used our services to learn about and impact what happens in their society. At the core of our practice is collaboration, sharing and openness.

In day-to-day development we determinedly focus on the immediate, practical benefits to people who use our work—but, there are specific long-term hacks underlying each of our projects: futures we imagine and hope to step our way towards. We create services with immediate practical use, but that change the way you see yourself and your role in our democracy.

In this presentation we’ll look at the long-term hacks that underlie our project *[Right To Know](https://www.righttoknow.org.au/)*. *Right To Know* makes it much easier to use your Freedom of Information rights to access any document held by Australian government bodies—you’re right to know about the projects and policies that impact your life. Right To Know makes simple changes to the way you access government information, but aims to support a transformation in how we all are involved in organising our society.

By looking at how Right To Know works to push us towards certain futures, you’ll see how our approach works in practice and, most importantly, how you can start civic hacking towards the future you want.