# New AustraliaSim Constitution

## Part 1 - Preliminary

(1) This document governs the rules and structure of the /r/AustraliaSim community on Reddit.

(2) This document is not the same as the *canon* Constitution.

(3) This Meta Constitution takes precedence over any document or rule within made within the community, to the extent of any inconsistency.

(4) AustraliaSim operates to the spirit of the following quote:

> "We hope you have a fun time chatting with people, talking about politics, and of course, debating Bills before the Parliament!"

## Part 2 - Membership

(1) A member of AustraliaSim refers to a person who participates within the community and is not subject to a community or Reddit site ban.

(2) A person becomes a member by beginning to participate on our Reddit communities or other AustraliaSim platforms.

(3) A person loses membership voluntarily (by virtue of not participating) or by being subject to a community or Reddit site ban.

## Part 3 - Administration

(1) AustraliaSim is to be overseen and managed by the *Moderation Team.*

(2) The Moderation Team will consist of the Head Moderator, Game Moderator, and Parliament Moderator.

(3) In the event of a tied vote within a Moderation Team decision, the Head Moderator will act as a tie-breaker.

(4) A person is eligble to be a Moderation Team member if at the time of election they are eligible to vote in meta elections and/or referendums.

(5) All Moderation Team members are to be at least 18 years of age due to the sensitive information they may deal with.

(6) Moderation Team members are elected by a Meta Election with at least a two-thirds total vote required (excluding abstentions).

(7) All Moderation Team members are to hold full permissions on AustraliaSim subreddits, the official community Discord, and constituent Discords (e.g. parties) at request.

#### Part 3.1 - Head Moderator

(1) The Head Moderator is responsible for overseeing all operations of the community and managing community bans.

(2) When the Head Moderator requires leave from their duties, the most senior Moderation Team member shall fill their position.

(3) The Head Moderator shall not overrule majority decisions of the Moderation Team that were not in their favour without approval of the Guardians.

#### Part 3.2 - Game Moderator

(1) The Game Moderator is responsible for managing the following parts of the community:
* elections and referendums/plebiscites; and
* managing political parties; and
* periodic opinion polls; and
* managing events; and
* managing the press

(2) Aspects of the aforementioned parts may be delegated to other groups within the community and as required by other parts of this Constitution.

#### Part 3.3 - Parliament Moderator

(1) The Parliament Moderator is responsible for managing the following parts of the community:
* the House of Representatives
* the Senate; and
* the recording of passed Acts/Motions by the Parliament; and
* the High Court of Australia; and
* the head of state of Australia.

(2) The Parliament Moderator may act as a member of the House/Senate Speakership, High Court of Australia, or the head of state when required to do so.

## Part 4 - Meta Elections and Referendums

(1) A member is eligible to vote or stand in an election/referendum if they are at least one of the following:

* a Member of Parliament;
* a Moderation Team member;
* a Discord Manager;
* an Electoral Commmission member;
* an Events Team member;
* a House or Senate speakership member;
* a High Court of Australia member;
* the canon Head of State or a deputy;
* otherwise been active on within the community for at least a month, determined by joining the official Discord or starting to contribute on the subreddits.

(2) Section 5 of Part 3 (Moderation Team) applies to section 1 of this Part.

(3) At least 3 days debate is required prior to the commencement of a meta referendum/vote unless the matter is deemed urgent by the Moderation Team.

(4) A meta election or referendum voting period must be for at least 48 hours, starting and ending at 22:00 Canberra time on the respective days.

(5) When the vote is about the election of a person to a position/office, unless otherwise specified, 50+1% approval (excluding abstentions) is required for the vote to be successful.

(6) When there are more members up for election than the number of positions to be filled, the positions are filled by the members with the highest vote share.

(7) If nominations are required for a meta election, a nomination period of at least 5 days is to be held prior to the beginning of the debate on the meta election stipulated in section (3).

(8) Nominations require at least 3 seconders to be put up for election (excluding the member standing for nomination), with 6 required for a Moderation Team position.

(9) Meta Elections or Referendums brought on by petitions from the community must carry at least 5 seconders on that petition.

(10) All meta elections or referendums must be announced on r/AustraliaSim at the beginning of the debate period.

(11) The voting method to be used is single transferable vote.

## Part 5 - Parliament, High Court, Head of State

#### Part 5.1 - House of Representatives

(1) The House of Representatives is to consist of an amount of members as determined by the Parliament Moderator ("moderator" in this section).

(2) The House of Representatives is be operated by rules published by the moderator subject to community approval by a Meta Referendum.

(3) The House of Representatives is to elect a member of the House as Speaker at the beginning of each term.

(4) The Speaker is responsible for managing the day to day business of the House, including debates and votes as required through the rules.

(5) The Speaker may be removed by the House of Representatives through a vote of no confidence within that House.

(6) The Speaker may chose to allow the House of Representatives to elect a Deputy Speaker if required.

(7) The Speaker and their Deputy remains a full member of the House of Representatives and is permitted to debate and vote as normal.

#### Part 5.2 - Senate

(1) The Senate is to consist of an amount of senators as determined by the Parliament Moderator ("moderator" in this section).

(2) The Senate is be operated by rules published by the moderator subject to community approval by a Meta Referendum.

(3) The Senate is to elect a senator as Senate President at the beginning of each term.

(4) The Senate President is responsible for managing the day to day business of the Senate, including debates and votes as required through the rules.

(5) The Senate President may be removed by the Senate through a vote of no confidence within the Senate.

(6) The Senate President may chose to allow the Senate to elect a Deputy Senate President if required.

(7) The Senate President and their Deputy remains a full member of the Senate and is permitted to debate and vote as normal.

#### Part 5.3 - Sitting Term

(1) The Parliament shall sit for a period of not more than 4 months from the date of the Parliament opening after a regular election.

(2) In the time between Parliament being prorogued and the date of polling for a regular election, the Parliament may sit to consider already introduced business, but not new business unless it is of a procedural matter.

#### Part 5.4 - Elections and By-Elections

(1) The composition of the Parliament is to be determined through a regular General Election held by the Electoral Commission.

(2) The Speaker or Senate President may request the Electoral Commission to hold a by-election for a position in accordance with the relevant house's rules.

#### Part 5.5 - Speakership Assistants

(1) The moderator may chose to seek assistants to help with operating the Houses of Parliament.

(2) An Assistant is to be elected via Meta Election.

#### Part 5.6 - High Court of Australia

(1) The High Court of Australia is to consist of at least one Justice.

(2) The Parliament Moderator is to determine rules for the High Court of Australian's operation.

(3) The Parliament, by joint sitting, is to elect Justices as nominated by the Prime Minister.

(4) A Justice must be politically neutral within canon and not sit in Parliament or be the Head of State.

#### Part 5.7 - Head of State

(1) The type of Head of State is to be as determined by the canon Constitution.

(2) The Parliament Moderator may make rules as to the operation of the Head of State.

(3) The Head of State must be politically neutral within canon and not sit in Parliament or on the High Court.

## Part 6 - Elections, Referendums, Plebiscites, Polling, and Events

(1) In this Part, moderator refers to the Game Moderator.

#### Part 6.1 - The Electoral Commission

(1) The *Electoral Commission*, acting in canon as the Australian Electoral Commission, is to commisison and operate elections, referendums, plebiscites, and polls.

(2) The Electoral Commission shall consist of the Moderation Team members, and members as elected via a Meta Election.

(3) Electoral Commission members elected by Meta Election are to be entirely politically neutral in canon and not hold any canon position.

#### Part 6.2 - Simulated voting

(1) All elections and polls are to be determined through use of simulated voting as determined by the Game Moderator.

(2) Withstanding an approving Meta Referendum, the Game Moderator may chose to have a referendum or plebiscite be held by the form of a community vote run under the same rules as a Meta Referendum.

(3) The Game Moderator shall inform the community of significant changes to the way in which simulated voting is calculated without revealing specifics.

(4) Specifics of the method of calculation for simulated voting is to not be shared in any form outside of the Electoral Commission or Moderation Team.

(5) Resuls from simulated voting are to be approved by the Moderation Team prior to publication.

#### Part 6.3 - Electoral Commission Obligations

(1) The Electoral Commission is to hold a regular or by-election for the Parliament when asked to do so by the Parliament Moderator, usually at the conclusion of a parliamentary term or in the case of a member resigning.

(2) The Electoral Commission is to hold a referendum or plebiscite when an Act of Parliament is passed that requires one at the advice of the Parliament Moderator.

(3) The Electoral Commission is to publish periodic opinion polls in relation to at least the political parties, the government, opposition, and Prime Minister. They may choose to create polls based off other current political issues.

#### Part 6.4 - Events

(1) The Game Moderator is to form an Events Team, elected by Meta Election, who will manage simulated events in the community.

(2) Events Teams member may be politically active within canon but cannot be a member of the (Shadow) Cabinet.

(3) The Events Team may act as negotiators and role-play the place of other countries governments, companies, and similar.

(4) The Game Moderator may determine rules for the operation of Events and the Events Team.

## Part 7 - Political Parties and Press

(1) The Game Moderator may determine rules in regards to political parties and the press aspects of the community, including rules for registrations of political parties and similar.

## Part 8 - Community Management

#### Part 8.1 - Code of Conduct

(1) The Moderation Team is to publish a Code of Conduct for behaviour within the community.

(2) A community member may petition to change the Code of Conduct subject to a Meta Referendum.

#### Part 8.2 - Discord Managers

(1) The Moderation Team may appoint members as Discord Managers subject to a Meta Referendum.

(2) Discord Managers must be 18 years of age or older.

(3) Discord Managers are to moderate and issue temporary bans/mutes from the Discord in accordance with the Code of COnduct.

(4) Discord Managers may refer cases to the Moderation Team if required.

#### Part 8.3 - Bans

(1) The Moderation Team may ban a member from the community for violations of the Code of Conduct or if the Moderation Team determines their presence in the community creates danger to other members.

(2) The community at large may petition to ban a member, subject a Meta Refernedum requiring a 66% approval, if they believe that they pose a danger to the community.

(3) If a member is permanently site banned from Reddit that ban is to carry across to the community unless the Moderation Team determine that is inappropriate.

#### Part 8.4 - Community enforced bans

(1) The person known as ThanksHeadMod is permanently banned from AustraliaSim.

## Part 9 - Guardians

(1) At least one Guardian is to be appointed to hold ultimate ownership and oversight of AustraliaSim, as elected by a Meta Referendum requiring at least 75% approval.

(2) The Guardians are to not interfere with AustraliaSim moderation unless they believe the community is at grave danger.

(3) The Guardians may remove a member of the Moderation Team if required to protec the community.

(4) An action under section 3 of this Part is to be confirmed by a vote of confidence in that Moderation Team member after the removal.

## Part 10 - Removal of position holders

(1) A member may petition to removal a community-elected position holder at any time.

(2) At least 6 seconders are required for such a petition to continue to a Vote of Confidence in the form of a Meta Referendum.

(3) The vote share required to keep a member is to be the same as is required to elect them.

## Part 11 - Amending this constitution

This Meta Constitution may be amended after—

(a) a proposal from a member from the Moderation Team or a petition
consisting of 6 members nominating a proposed change; and
(b) a five-day consultation period where members may nominate
amendments; and
(c) a Meta Referendum.