Join us online or in person for a seminar with Peter Ferguson, Zim Nwokora, Amy Nethery and Andrew Young.

Has Politics Become More Professional? Career and Legislative Professionalisation in the Australian Parliament Since 1950

While the rise of the ‘professional politician’ has been widely lamented for its perceived negative impact on representative democracy, the concept of ‘political professionalism’ remains poorly defined, making these claims difficult to assess. This paper develops an institutional framework to measure professionalisation across two dimensions: career professionalisation (capturing the changing career trajectories of MPs) and legislative professionalisation (describing the changing character and institutional context of parliamentary service). Using the Parliament of Australia as a case study, these measures are used to determine whether professionalism increased between 1950 and 2023. There is strong evidence of career professionalisation from the 1950s to the 2010s in the pre-parliamentary educational and occupational backgrounds of members, with a slight decline over the last decade. Other measures of career professionalisation, are either inconclusive, namely prior elected service, or in the case of average age of MPs and duration of service, peaked in the late-1980s and early-2000s respectively. The legislative professionalisation trends are also mixed, with a fivefold increase in politically appointed staff the only clear indicator of professionalisation. Meanwhile, a steady increase in basic remuneration as a proportion of the median wage from the early-1990s demonstrates professionalisation, following a period of de-professionalisation between the early-1950s and late-1980s. Finally, average annual sitting hours (a proxy for work intensification) is inconclusive, suggesting a need to explore other potential institutional markers of professionalisation. Overall, no decisive trend towards professionalisation is identified, indicating that this process is less pronounced than is often claimed.

11am, 11th September 2024.

Burwood: C2.05.01
Waurn Ponds: IC2.108
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Dr Peter Ferguson is a Senior Lecturer at Deakin University and Politics and International Relations Discipline Convenor.

Assoc. Prof. Zim Nwokora is a political scientist specialising in the comparative study of political institutions, especially constitutions, political parties and political finance. 

Assoc. Prof. Amy Nethery is a political sociologist with expertise in public policy. Her scholarly work is dedicated to enhancing our democratic institutions, aiming to strengthen their foundations and promote inclusive and participatory governance.

Andrew Young is a Research Fellow. He was the Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk (CEO) of the Legislative Council, Parliament of Victoria until 2022.