The debate over rights for our nation is going strong and will continue to do so. However, it seems quite strange that hardly any one appears to be talking about the equally important, if unrecognised, area of duties. Actually this area is more like invisible. Allow me to introduce you to ‘Duty’ or ‘Duties’. Assuming we have our rights met, we experience a degree of ease, peace and security. However, this privilege has a sister. Like yin and yang, a balance is needed when viewing these issues in a more holistic or comprehensive manner. So if, and when, we have our rights met, we feel content; and there we also have a sense of duty, to the society we are a part of and live in. Democracy has been fought for over time through various injustices from race, gender, corruption and the like. We are fortunate living in a safe, structured society where we haven’t had to worry about issues affecting our general well-being. Granted, terrorism has changed things globally, yet on the whole we are still relatively lucky. However, it is a shame that so many of us are disengaged with life. The general consensus is in favour of taking things for granted, because someone else will always do something about it, or the government will take care of it. What a Pandora’s box we can open here. Yet it isn’t enough to expect others to take care of things. Every one of us has rights and duties; and duties are a more effective way of engaging with people. The current fad for ‘responsibility’ is rather overstated and lacking in effectiveness. Responsibilities are usually didactic whereas duty implies a sense of ownership and making up one’s own mind, leading to action. The principle of Duty is significant in a number of ways: Firstly, it goes towards ‘Rebalancing Consumerism’ and leads to a greater sense of individual meaning in one’s life through becoming involved in societal and community issues. It also goes towards fostering engagement in the running of society. By enabling children with this direction they will interpret in their own way how to do this. Instead of the issue of community or environment as a separate add-on – as it is in business – integration of all these interconnected parts of life would commence sooner. This would result in an easier transition into the workforce and hopefully workers would be more capable of working in an integrated manner. Presently most businesses are working in specific silos (segregated parts or sections which are not aligned to the core business strategy, nor to other departments and stakeholders.) Why does this matter? Because it is highly inefficient and unproductive. It also results in duplication of effort and wasting of resources, amongst other things. A current fad which has belatedly reached Australia is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), with it’s its first ever conference in late 2005. However CSR is not the holy grail. As Company Director magazine revealed in June 2005, failed companies such as Enron, Worldcom, One-Tel and HIH all had glowing and in some cases like Enron award winning CSR Reports. Without employees living the values in the organisation and integration throughout the whole organisation, not just at the top tiers, CSR is simply not effective in engaging people at a sufficient level of involvement as it is usually too prescriptive. Usually CSR is part of a specific department unaligned with the rest of the people and organisational divisions. It is presented in the wrong form. Instead, Corporate Citizenship is congruent with the whole notion of a Citizen, as in a Corporate Citizen, which also relates to a more complete societal picture of the role of the individual, not just in the office, but as a person, a citizen, in all parts of society. The next issue to tackle is rebalancing consumers and culture. Schools should be teaching this area in conjunction with sustainable consumption and production. In this way, our future Australians will develop a greater sense of personal ownership of their duties and role in life, with less emphasis on the consumerist culture, which results in apathy and disillusion. As Shaun Carney noted (23/12/05 in The Age), ‘the levels of political estrangement in Australia are low and getting lower.’ Fostering engagement from a young age will strengthen the make-up of tomorrow’s adults and leaders. Thirdly, in policy development, along with Rights there should be a central focus on Duties. This applies particularly to new citizens when they are naturalized as well as Australians. Through this approach we can aim for a better integrated multiculturalism, as opposed to enclaves of communities who stay segregated, which can lead to socio-economic problems such as unemployment, illiteracy, boredom and frustration leading to crime and addiction. Recently Britain introduced draft proposals for a national Citizenship Test to improve integration into society. It would test knowledge of systems and political institutions. After the riots at Cronulla last Christmas, it might be a good idea for Australia. We could implement a citizenship test with a worthy incentive for taking it. For example, at the time of renewal of vehicle registration, you would have to undergo and pass the test, otherwise you would not be allowed to drive. Refreshing our memory with these principles would be a bit like the renewing of vows and strengthening of social capital. Interestingly not many countries actually have duties stated in their Citizenship charters. Most are simply about rights. However Canada’s charter is one of the few that goes beyond just rights although, they refer to it as Responsibilities. For Plato and Aristotle the one true criteria of the size of the polis/ city state was that all the citizens know one another, hardly possible nowadays. Yet the issue at stake here is between public and private worlds, says Dr Steve Kreis, Professor European History at Meredith, North Carolina. The ancient Greeks did not really see two distinct worlds in the lives of the citizenry. Instead, the public world was to be joined with the private world. In such a society – the society of the polis – all citizens were intimately and directly involved in politics, justice, military service, religious ceremonies, intellectual discussion, athletics and artistic pursuits. Generally it involved the functioning of society. To shirk one's responsibilities was not only rare but reprehensible in the eyes of the Greek citizen. Greek citizens did not have rights, but duties. A citizen who did not fulfill his duties was socially disruptive. At the polis of Sparta, such a citizen was called "an Inferior." If we understand the significance of democracy, and especially the current media cross-ownership issue and our role in society, then we need to become part of this process- engaged in the issues of our society. There are many potential positive outcomes, most of all our constitutional right to democracy, rather than staying in the background. We have a duty to maintain our freedom in spite of our constitution being invisible, compared to the often quoted American situation. Before another word about rights is uttered we should work towards a fuller picture of what type of society we would like to have, where we foster not only Australian rights, but also personal duties. Through duties, we can create a total Citizens Charter and benefit the whole nation.