Just a few points.

Trade unions are not necessarily democratic or progressive. It depends on how they are run.

Women have far more rights than men in Australia. They have far more government support, and the court system is heavily biased in their favor.

The loss of free education is a major cause of concern, and it came from the Hawk era with the introduction of compulsory HECS fees for university students. Australia has paid dearly for that ever since, with a loss of a skilled workforce. Hawk also introduced the totally corrupt, feminist and inhuman Family Law system, and when combined, the Family Law court and HECS fees have been the greatest hex on Australian society in modern times.

The loss of our environment is possibly Australia’s greatest tragedy, as we once had the most diverse and greatest environment in the world.

By my reckoning we breezed through this test. What’s is your point that Australia isn’t the country you want it to be. Big deal great over it. I may come as a surprise to you but it’s wasn’t setup for you it was setup for us and the are many different voices in Australia with different views, I think we do a fine job and balancing all of those views. Most of the western world does as a matter of fact. Are we perfect well on a whole no everyone will be able to point out things that could be better but we will not all agree on what they are and how to do them better. So unless your trying to say that your opinion is some how more correct then mine you pissing into the wind my Friend.

How we treat the most vulnerable in society should be a major gauge as to whether or not we are civilized. We fail dismally when it comes to the unborn. Thankfully we are a little bit better when it comes to looking after the elderly. The test that is in the article is typical socialist ABC crap.

Every Sperm is Sacred eh runner,Religous right crap.

Fantastic article.
We use the word 'civilised' as though its something we have already achieved. At the very least, it could become an aspiration.
When we are free from hunger, poverty, crime, police, servitude and war to list but a few, we can assume to sing out such large statements as 'We are a civilised nation'.
It would be a great legacy for the human race to achieve global civilisation.
I imagine in such a world, the comments posted on forums such as this would be articulate, designed from an informed and thoughtful position, respectful, non-abusive, positively challenging for any mind and generally... resolutely civilised in their intent, content and purpose.

In a Hobbesian "State of Nature" the powerful take what they want from the vulnerable. We define a civilised society as one that looks after the most vulnerable members of society.

Clearly Australia is becoming less civilised as
- infants and pre-school children are seen as profit centres for corporate childcare.
-The old age pension is being replaced by compulsory superannuation schemes managed by the for-profit life insurance industry which clearly rips off casual workers, and employees who change employers over the course of their working life [oh, to run the McDonalds super fund]
- we punish people who can't find enough work to sustain themselves, many people over 55 work as volunteers for 2 days per week as part of their mutual obligation so they can receive Newstart payments ie as their work-for-the-dole obligation
- a section of society argues that wealthy families should not access state education, so it is available for the poor
- the private health insurance companies argue that people with private health insurance should be denied access to our best hospitals ie the major public teaching hospitals
- corporate CEO remuneration is outstripping the growth in corporate profits while salaries are stagnating
- we engage in war to destroy the livilihoods of the inhabitants of the countries we invade

Great, I scored us as 76, a credit. Still plenty of room for improvement but we are heading in the right direction. I know that we are supposed to rail against our iniquities, but I think it more realistic to accept that few of us are ready to fly off to a more civilized nation.

WELLLLL.... I thought Kenny got killed in the last Southpark episode about a year back... but no..

HE'S BACK :)

welcome Kenny.

Well said Fencepost..

I think the best way of measuring the relative quality of societies is the "vote with your feet" factor. The tide of immigration will always be trying to get TO a country like ours and not away... if we did not restrict immigration, we would have MILLIONS of people trying to get here.. and who could blame them?

You see here.. when we have an election, the old govt. departs graciously and the new one moves in. No ifs no buts, no "re-elections" Zimbabwe style, no army interference.

Here, for the most part, separation of powers works and works well, can't tick that box in many places.

The weather is great, where was that criterion on the list?

I have posted along these lines before but I think anyone living ANYWHERE in the secular democratic west, can thank their lucky stars that they were born now and not at any time in the past, for a range of reasons. And I would beg to suggest that a child born now will do better still.

The carping, whining, negative tone of the article, (and those comments in support) indicates an author in need of a serious reality check. Australia in short - plenty to work on and lots to be done but way better than most.

Interesting idea, but the way that these questions are phrased is loaded and leading.

For example:

I’d go along with religion being neither forbidden nor compulsory, but surely that leaves it up to individuals’ choices whether it plays a “very small” role.

“Public enterprise is as valued as private enterprise” assumes that uncivilised countries prefer the private sector, whereas history shows that many countries that have preferred the state to the private sector have been profoundly uncivilised. I’d prefer that both sectors are recognised for their contributions (and weaknesses).

Trades unions should be free and their members’ rights protected, but whether they “flourish” depends on how well they serve their members, it is not an automatic barometer of civilisation.

The environment should be a high priority, but not necessarily the highest.

I’d agree that secular education should be available, but not that religious education or church schools should be forbidden.

In short, anyone phrasing a real exam like this would be open to serious and justified allegations of bias.

As some posters have suggested, many things are omitted from this list. The choice will depend on your ideology – the rights to “life” or “to choose”; rights to property and liberty and self-ownership; to a meaningful job at a living wage, to affordable accommodation, to self-defence …

I suspect the true test of whether a country is civilised is not how it would answer Horton’s questionnaire, but the questions it would choose to reflect its own definitions of civilisation.

I have lived in many countries around the world and always find it difficult that when I return home to Australia I become so aware of the blind way many Australian's truely believe this is a civilised country. Some of the people in Australia live in appauling developing country conditions. Some of the older people in the country live in such substandard conditions and pay through the nose. I have so often cringed at the way minority groups have been treated. I have held the view that "if only Australian's really had a look at what civilised was, we could do so much more to make this country great" for such a long time, so it was refreashing to read your article. I think one of the big problems of self reflection is that it means having a real look at ourselves. To change, we must accept we may not have it right. We have to question what we have always thought of as common sense. Thank you for chucking this concept out there. You have given me faith in the goal of civilisation again.

Maybe a country should only be considered civilised if it teaches its citizens how to spell, Till?

And a little more seriously, if it is so awful here, why is every man and his dog trying to GET here? Yes, it is not perfect.. no country is.. but please kindly inform us which country we should aspire to be more like?

I think a simpler test of how 'civilised' we are, would be in how we treat our children; both living and those to come.
We have already treated the next generation abominably, with land speculation, burning valuable hydrocarbons, stripping forests etc., but how much thought do we give to children 500 or 1000 years from now?
When we talk of 'civilisations' we talk of political systems which span centuries.
In our political system, 'long term' is more than 8 years.
I would suggest the true test of whether or not we are democratic -much less civilised- is the ability to accept that we are all equal.
The stumbling block is, if we are all equal, then our children must also be equal, everywhere.
When we accept that all children born and unborn for generations to come, have just as much right to be loved and cherished as our own children, then we may be able to make some claim to being civilised.
I agree with Till. The first step is to stop using uourselves as benchmarks; automatically assuming we are right.
Before we attempt to remove the splinter from our neighbour's eye, first we should remove the plank from our own.

The optimist thinks things are about as good as it gets. The pessimist thinks he might just be right.

Personally I believe we could be better; our condition is always a compromise.

This is hilarious. Make up your own test. Load the questions to suit your point. Make a few smug comments. Then observe that your point has been proven.

And this from a guy who appears to have had a serious academic career. Hope he doesn't load up his serious research this way.

Fortunately or unfortunately this test means nothing.

Whilst it sounds like a good idea, the reality is, “civilised” is so many different things to different people that the only way of answering the test would be to question the populous before hand and read back the opinion of the great unwashed and then allow for diversity of opinion, which means all answers are equally right and equally wrong.

Ultimately, a really ‘civilised’ country accepts and tolerates the diversity of the people who compose its population (like artists who take photoes of children equally with a womans right to choose) and has a government which respects their diverse values (by minimising its interaction in peoples’ daily lives; instead of planning and meddling in the minutia of their existence, from cradle to grave and levying excessive taxes to steal their discretionary income only to spend on pointless bureaucrats and "handouts for the hopeless").