A growing number of Australian workers have responsibility for the care of someone else—perhaps children, an ageing parent or someone with a disability or chronic illness—while they are working. This inquiry is examining the ways in which the combination of work and care responsibilities is impacting on the lives and wellbeing of Australians.

This submission adds to the authors' multiple previous submissions by providing some critical updates to NT Parliament on research published in the last few years (2019-2022).

This inquiry report finds that the purchase of the Leppington Triangle land for the Western Sydney Airport project has breached the social contract between the Commonwealth and the public, by not providing any clear value for money and by creating arbitrary differences between landholders with varying degrees of access to decision-makers.

The Income Compliance Program impacted hundreds of thousands of people and, for many, resulted in devastating emotional and psychological harm. It has undermined many people's financial security, as well as their willingness to engage with and trust government services. This inquiry report recommends that the Australian government establish a Royal Commission into the program.

A key recommendation from this inquiry is for the Australian government report to the Parliament at least once every two years, commencing in 2024, on the state of Australian pandemic preparedness, including all relevant planning, policy and simulation activities undertaken by government agencies during the reporting period.