---
title: Pirate Party Australia
type: party
status: active
country: AU
website: https://pirateparty.org.au
logo: /assets/org-logos/pirate-party.svg
contact:
  checked: 2026-08-01
  email: media@pirateparty.org.au
  source: https://pirateparty.org.au/contact
summary: An Australian political party focused on digital rights, civil liberties,
  and democratic reform, including initiating the Electoral Royal Commission campaign
  to investigate Australian voting reform. Deregistered as an independent AEC-registered
  party in 2021 and now runs as a distinct internal grouping within the Fusion Party
  — retaining its own membership and infrastructure, with its members also counted
  as Fusion Party members for electoral registration.
concepts:
- liquid-democracy
- issue-based-direct-democracy
- radical-transparency
location:
  latitude: -33.8688
  longitude: 151.2093
  name: Sydney, Australia
  precision: city
events:
- date: '2008-01-01'
  title: Founded as part of the international Pirate Party movement, advocating digital
    rights and direct democracy
  url: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_Party_Australia
  quote: was founded in 2008 by Rodney Serkowski
  proof_level: high
  url_checked: '2026-08-10'
  notable: true
activity:
  manual:
    checked: 2026-06-07
    date: 2026-06-07
    note: Known personally to be active
  dod:
    checked: 2026-07-19
    date: 2026-07-19
    note: 'Status ambiguity resolved by a DOD member with direct knowledge: PPAU deregistered
      as an independent AEC party in 2021 but continues as a distinct internal grouping
      within the Fusion Party (own membership, own infrastructure); members also count
      as Fusion Party members for AEC registration purposes. Kept active.'
    url: https://pirateparty.org.au
  rss:
    checked: 2026-08-17
    date: 2024-05-14
    note: 'Latest post: Pirate Party Australia raises alarm over miscarriage of justice
      in David McBride'
    url: https://pirateparty.org.au/2024/05/15/pirate-party-australia-raises-alarm-over-miscarriage-of-justice-in-david-mcbride-case-lengthy-prison-term/
last_checked: '2026-07-19'
---

Pirate Party Australia is the Australian branch of the international Pirate Party movement, which originated in Sweden in 2006 around issues of copyright reform and internet freedom. The Australian chapter has broadened its platform to include democratic reform, government transparency, and civil liberties.

> **Note on status (resolved 2026-07):** PPAU voluntarily deregistered as an independent AEC-registered party on 28 April 2021. It did not dissolve — it merged into the Fusion Party's federated structure, which allows PPAU to continue as a distinct internal grouping: separate membership, separate infrastructure (its own website, servers, and members-only portal), and its own ongoing activity (e.g. the McBride case commentary, the Electoral Royal Commission campaign, its own weekly "Social Fridays" meetups distinct from Fusion's monthly member meeting) — while its members are also counted as Fusion Party members for the purposes of AEC registration. PPAU's site footer confirms this directly: it identifies as "**Pirate Party Australia Incorporated**" (INC 9892436, ABN 99 462 965 754) — a live incorporated-association registration distinct from Fusion's — and describes itself as "a founding member of FUSION." This is a real change worth recording (the party is no longer independently AEC-registered), but not a merger in the sense of ceasing to exist as a distinct entity, so `status: active` stands. Confirmed by a DOD member with direct knowledge of the structure, resolving the ambiguity flagged in [PR #112](https://github.com/DesigningOpenDemocracy/DesigningOpenDemocracy.github.io/pull/112).

Of particular note to the democracy reform field: PPAU initiated the **Electoral Royal Commission** campaign, advocating for a formal commission of inquiry into Australian voting systems and electoral reform options. The campaign reflects a view that the mechanisms by which Australians elect their representatives deserve serious, structured scrutiny — not just ad hoc party-political debate.

The party operates as an explicitly political actor with positions across a range of issues, though its structural focus on how democratic processes work (rather than purely what policies they should produce) gives it some overlap with the nonpartisan democracy reform community.

## Links

- Website: [pirateparty.org.au](https://pirateparty.org.au)

## Member resources

- [Electoral Reform — The Wolf of Auspol](https://wolfofauspol.me/electoral-reform) — a detailed breakdown of electoral reform options for Australia by Drew Wolfendale, a PPAU/Fusion Party member, covering multi-member electorate models and proportional systems

## See also

- [Liquid Democracy](../concepts/liquid-democracy.md)
- [Issue-Based Direct Democracy](../concepts/issue-based-direct-democracy.md)
- [Radical Transparency](../concepts/radical-transparency.md)
- [Electoral Royal Commission](electoral-royal-commission.md)