The paper calls on the next government to use the resources at its disposal to address the hardship people are facing and build a fairer and more sustainable future. It provides a suite of major recommendations including lifting Jobseeker, Youth Allowance and related income support payments, building more social housing to address the housing crisis and investing in home energy upgrades to permanently reduce bills. 

Key recommendations

• Deliver the funding and resourcing needed to implement reform priorities and targets under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
• Increase all income support payments to at least the Pension rate of $82 a day.
• Substantially invest in social housing to meet need with a clear pathway towards social housing comprising 10% of all housing stock.
• Invest an additional $450m per year for homelessness services to ensure they can meet demand.
• Invest in labour market programs which make a difference for people like wage subsidies, VET places and employer led schemes.
• End the underfunding of community service organisations by developing a better funding and grants management model.
• Boost funding to essential crisis-response services such as family and domestic violence, community legal services, financial counselling, food and emergency relief, and homelessness services.
• Provide substantial funding to accelerate home energy upgrades for all low income and First Nations housing.
• Remove the fuel tax credit for non-agricultural uses (including mining) to reduce fossil fuel emissions and generate the revenue needed to invest in the energy transition and fund essential services.