Yes and no. You still get people who are just going through the motions, you get people who vote blindly by political party however in recent years we've found a lot of people want to know about the issues.

A few years ago, a grassroots organisation called GetUp (http://www.getup.org.au/about/) started. It really focuses on the issue and not just at election time. I think it was a direct result from this and because the opposition candidate focussed on the electorate that, at the last election, the sitting Prime Minister lost his seat. It's only happened once before.