The Australia We Want, First Report. October 2016

Is the Australia of today and the future we are creating, the Australia we want?

The Australia We Want, First Report asks us all to answer this question, and to act on the answers we draw from its data and findings. 

The Community Council for Australia and charity leaders from across the sector began this work at a roundtable in 2015. We were determined that debates about Australia’s future move beyond a discussion of the type of economy to be achieved, and to talk fundamentally about the society we want to live in. Australians are more than individual tax paying economic units.  Our productivity, innovation, skills and achievements are actually grounded in flourishing communities within our schools, workplaces, families and local neighbourhoods.

The Australia We Want is the first ever benchmark of how Australia and each State and Territory is performing against values and goals prioritised by leaders from across the charities sector.  These values include: just, fair, safe, inclusive, equality of opportunity, united, authentic, creative, confident, courageous, optimistic, generous, kind, and compassionate.  Drawing on key statistics from the OECD, ABS and the AIHW, to evaluate these values, the report reveals that:

• Australian incarceration rates are high - 3 times that of Ireland and rising (how just are we?)
• Australian suicide rates are higher than our road toll and increasing (how inclusive are we?)
• Inequality in income distribution is higher than most other OECD countries - and growing (how fair are we?) 
• Australians volunteer less and give less as a percentage of income than five years ago (how kind and generous are we?)
• Australia is slipping down both the international corruption scale and the scale of international generosity (how authentic and compassionate are we?)