The 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide a global framework for sustainable development, aiming to ensure future generations are better off than their predecessors while leaving no one behind. This report provides an independent assessment of Australia’s progress towards the SDGs.

The research assesses Australia’s progress against SDG targets, analyses key trends and explores the pathways needed to achieve the SDGs by 2030 and 2050. It provides a roadmap for achieving the SDGs, measuring the drivers of social and environmental wellbeing and sets clear targets and strategies to chart the way forward.

The 2024 update evaluates 80 indicators, offering a holistic review of the nation’s economy, the health and wellbeing of its population and the state of the environment. The findings highlight the need for bold and coordinated action to secure a sustainable and equitable future by 2030 and beyond.

Recommendations

1. For government departments to use the latest data and integrated modelling to evaluate and prioritise policies and to improve policy coherence.
2. Establish implementation plans for the 56 actions Australia has committed to as part of the United Nations Pact for the Future.
3. Incorporate SDG-aligned targets into the Measuring What Matters framework and expand its scope to address gaps in monitoring outcomes critical to the wellbeing of future generations.
4. Use the Intergenerational Reports as an accountability mechanism, reporting on all the SDGs.
5. Elevate the leadership, collective knowledge and intergenerational stewardship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
6. Establish a Commissioner for Future Generations.
7. Establish a representative, multi-sectoral reference group.
8. Agree and adopt official national poverty measures.