Federal Election 2025 Policy Platform
A stronger, fairer Australia for all.
Together, we can.
ADDRESSING THE COST-OF-LIVING CRISIS: A NATIONAL IMPERATIVE
Australians are navigating an unprecedented cost-of-living crisis marked by soaring inflation, rising rents and financial pressures that are preventing many from affording basic necessities. Despite low unemployment rates, increasing numbers of Australians are unable to make ends meet, leading to heightened anxiety, social fragmentation and strain on essential services. Vulnerable groups, including those relying on income support, facing unemployment, violence, housing instability, or otherwise dependent on community services and care infrastructure, bear the greatest burden.
While urgent action is needed to support struggling households, government must also take a long-term approach to addressing the systemic drivers of inflation. A strong economy should work for everyone, not just a few, which means tackling the root causes of disadvantage and ensuring economic growth is equitable and leads to shared prosperity. By addressing the underlying structural issues that are amplifying price shocks in the current environment, we can create a future where wealth is fairly distributed, no one is left behind, and all Australians can afford life’s essentials.
The affordability crisis reminds us of the need for bold policies that put people first. Ensuring a strong and adequate safety net and investing in a robust care and support economy are critical priorities to boost community resilience, wellbeing and opportunity for all.
UnitingCare Australia affirms the importance of every person’s right to live with dignity and wellbeing. We believe a strong and compassionate response to the cost-of-living crisis is not only possible, but essential. By prioritising people and the care and support infrastructure they rely on in times of need, we can build a society where no one is left behind and where all Australians have the opportunity to thrive.
We call on all political parties and candidates to support two key proposals in the lead-up to the 2025 Federal Election:
Ensure a strong and adequate safety net
Ensure a strong and adequate safety net by aligning income support payments with actual living costs, ensuring access to support for all who need it, and indexing payments to maintain their real-world value.
A strong safety net—encompassing adequate payments and well-functioning services and system.
This is foundational to a fair and inclusive society. Despite Australia placing a high value on fairness, 13.4% of Australians currently live below the poverty line, and available income supports are not on par with the cost of living. In addition, current funding for the aged care sector is not enough to support the most vulnerable older Australians. Addressing this inadequacy is critical to boosting living standards and social participation for all Australians.
- Ensure adequacy of payments: Align income support payments with the actual cost of living to ensure basic needs can be met.
- Index payments to inflation: Safeguard the value of income support payments by indexing them to wage growth and inflation, improving financial security and wellbeing over the longer-term.
- Support every older Australian: Ensure that all older Australians, including full pensioners, have access to quality aged care services.
Strengthen community support services
Community services are the backbone of support for many Australians, yet over 80% of community service providers report unmet demand due to insufficient resources.
Strengthening the capacity of services to better respond to demand and provide care to all in need.
This is both a moral obligation and an investment in the future wellbeing and prosperity of our communities:
- Provide adequate funding that is appropriately indexed: Ensure sustained funding and resourcing for services and supports across the care sector, aligned with the current economic environment and actual operational costs, including for critical emergency relief, homelessness and crisis support programs that address acute-level needs.
- Expanded sector capacity: Equip services to meet growing demand through sustained investment in capability building, training and workforce initiatives, along with innovative program delivery approaches, to ensure services are responsive to changing needs and can foster long-term community wellbeing.