The paper calls on the next government 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.

Australia’s next Parliament can tackle the nation’s challenges in areas such as inequality, sustainability, health and education by raising more revenue through five main reforms: ending fossil fuel subsidies; ending the gas industry's free ride; reforming the capital gains tax discount and negative gearing; reforming superannuation tax concessions; and taxing luxury utes and plastic.

This report outlines how negative gearing and the 50% capital gains tax (CGT) discount have contributed to inequality and housing affordability issues. It recommends the Australian Government halve the CGT discount over five years and restrict negative gearing for new investments, investing the revenue raised in social and affordable housing.

Wealth inequality over the past 20 years has progressively worsened in Australia. Australia’s wealth is now more unequally distributed than in the past. This paper examines the growth of Australian household wealth from 2002 to 2022 by asset. Tax concessions and the rapid growth in investment properties are found to have contributed to wealth inequality.

This national survey provides insight into public attitudes towards the role, value and funding of essential services. It finds a significant increase in the proportion of people unhappy with the tax system, with two-thirds responding that it either fails to reduce or actually increases inequality.