---
title: Sortition Foundation (Australia)
type: advocacy
status: active
country: AU
website: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia
logo: /assets/org-logos/sortition-foundation-australia.png
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-01
  email: press@sortitionfoundation.org
  form: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/contact
  source: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/contact
summary: The Australian chapter of the UK-based Sortition Foundation, running monthly
  community meetings and providing sortition recruitment services for Australian democratic
  processes — including Victorian council deliberations, federal electorate pilots,
  and national citizen assemblies.
concepts:
- sortition
- deliberative-democracy
- citizens-assembly
location:
  latitude: -37.7749
  longitude: 144.9934
  name: Preston, Victoria
news_page: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
rss_feed: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates.rss
events:
- date: '2020-01-01'
  title: Began running democratic lottery selections for Victorian councils under
    the Local Government Act
  url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/australia_update
  quote: Since January 2020, we've helped conduct independent selections, based on
    demographic criteria and on the fairest algorithm for random selection, in 11
    councils, with seven of those using the 'gold standard' of sending out letters
    to randomly selected addresses
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-14'
- date: '2025-02-21'
  title: AMPLIFY National Assembly on Housing — sortition selection of 120 participants
    for a Sydney deliberative weekend
  url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/amplifying_voices_on_housing
  quote: On 28 January 2025, we selected 120 participants for AMPLIFY National Housing
    AMPLIFICATION, a ground-breaking national deliberative process bringing Australians
    from across the continent together in Sydney for a weekend of deliberation from
    Friday 21 to Sunday 23 February 2025.
  note: Selected 120 participants (from 36,000 mailed invitations) across 11 demographic
    categories for the AMPLIFY National Housing Assembly deliberating 21-23 February
    2025 in Sydney.
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-14'
  notable: true
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    date: 2026-02-26
    note: website loaded. News page at https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
      26 February, 2026 'Frontiers of Democratic Lotteries Workshop'
    url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/updates
  dod:
    checked: 2026-07-19
    date: 2026-07-19
    note: Parent org (Sortition Foundation) confirmed active; Australia chapter page
      returns 403 to automated fetch (Cloudflare bot-block) but is indexed and referenced
      live; monthly Zoom meetings ongoing per site copy.
    url: https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia
  rss:
    date: 2026-06-18
    note: 'Latest post: We''re looking for a new Independent Director'
    url: http://www.sortitionfoundation.org/new_independent_director_2026
    checked: 2026-08-17
  scrape:
    checked: 2026-06-08
    hint: bot_blocked
    note: News page unreachable
  sitemap:
    date: 2026-05-26
    note: Page last modified (from sitemap)
last_checked: '2026-07-19'
---

The Sortition Foundation is a UK-based organisation that campaigns for the use of stratified random selection (sortition) in government, primarily through citizens' assemblies. The Australian chapter operates within that global structure and is established by **Dr Sonia Randhawa**, based in Preston, Victoria, who works as a Project Manager at the Foundation.

The UK Sortition Foundation already has a [landscape entry](sortition-foundation.md). The Australian chapter is noted separately because of its distinct operational activity in Australian democratic processes.

## Key people

- **Dr Sonia Randhawa** — established and leads the Australian chapter, based in Preston, Victoria. Works as a Project Manager at the Sortition Foundation and has driven its operational presence in Australian local and federal democratic processes.[^sfau]

## What the Australian chapter does

- **Monthly online meetings** — second Thursday evening of each month, open to anyone interested
- **Victorian council recruitment** — assisted 11 Victorian councils in using random selection for deliberative engagement under the Local Government Act
- **Federal electorate pilots** — ran a service for federal MPs (ACT seat of Canberra, Victorian seat of Casey) randomly selecting voters to help identify electorate priorities
- **National assemblies** — provided sortition recruitment for the 2025 AMPLIFY National Assembly on Housing: 36,000 invitations sent, 120 participants selected across 11 demographic categories
- **Education** — developing deliberative democracy curriculum for Australian secondary school students

## Links

- Australian chapter: [sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia)
- Parent organisation: [Sortition Foundation (UK)](sortition-foundation.md)

## See also

- [Sortition](../concepts/sortition.md)
- [Citizens' Assembly](../concepts/citizens-assembly.md)
- [Sortition Foundation](sortition-foundation.md)
- [newDemocracy Foundation](newdemocracy.md)

[^sfau]: "We want to change the way politics is done in Australia! Join us" Sortition Foundation, [Australia chapter](https://www.sortitionfoundation.org/become_a_member_australia), 3 September 2020.
- [What if we replaced politicians with randomly selected people?](../../blog/posts/2018-06-18.md) — Brett Hennig TED talk, discussed at DOD 2018
- [Your Party is using sortition](../../blog/posts/2025-12-07-your-party-is-using-sortition.md) — UK case study, 2025