Australian Value or Political Rhetoric? The Media’s Use of the Fair Go in Australia

Deceivingly simple and often colloquial, the Fair Go is pervasive to the Australian lexicon and a feature of the projected national identity. The Fair Go has historically been used as a plea for fairness in contexts where there is perceived injustice. The Australian media hold significant power to shape public perceptions and debate, including those around fairness; however, there is a limited understanding as to how the Australian media use the term. Examining the use of the Fair Go by the Australian media allowed for greater understanding of the role that the Fair Go plays within Australian society. A media frame analysis was conducted to explore the Australian media’s use of the Fair Go, revealing that the Australian media imbued the Fair Go with complex power dynamics. Re-enforcing the Fair Go as a narrative of injustice, the Australian media used the Fair Go to both personalise and politicise experiences of disadvantage through dominant humanisation and responsibility narratives. The results demonstrate how the often used, yet simplistic, façade of the term masks the complexity and power that the media have imbued the Fair Go with. Furthermore, the findings raise questions surrounding the media’s use of the term and the legitimacy of the Fair Go as a moniker of injustice.