Submission

2024-25 Pre-Budget Submission

Summary

UnitingCare Australia’s 2024-25 Federal Budget submission puts forward three high-impact proposals to deliver immediate relief and long-term wellbeing improvements for Australians:

  1. Delivering equitable and sustainable aged care for older Australians.
  2. Enabling more Australians to find safety through the Escaping Violence Payment Program.
  3. Sustainably meeting Australians’ care and support needs.

The Backstory

Creating a better tomorrow starts today.

Boosting the health and prosperity of people, rather than simply the economy, has been increasingly acknowledged as a more valuable way to achieve national progress. Indeed, this is the central premise of the Australian Government’s Measuring What Matters National Wellbeing Framework.

And rightfully so—prioritising wellbeing creates a more resilient, productive and inclusive society, benefiting everyone in the long run.

But creating a better, fairer future that prioritises wellbeing starts with making people focussed policy decisions today. And there are some significant challenges to navigate.

Australia’s ageing population means that continued pressure will be placed on the services and supports needed by Australians as they grow older. Without effective policy making and Government investment now, demand for support will continue to escalate to unserviceable levels.

The ‘shadow pandemic’ of domestic violence also remains prevalent in the nation’s headlines, emphasising the need for sustained government investment to facilitate access to the supports that individuals need to find financial security and freedom from violence.

Rising cost of living pressures are also impacting an ever-broadening cross-section of the population. Millions of Australians are struggling to pay for essentials like food, rent and medical care and more people are turning to the social services sector for support and to find relief from financial hardship.

Ensuring that budgetary decision-making addresses current and future challenges and maximises national wellbeing is therefore more important than ever.

Encouragingly, the Government has signalled its intent to act.

The 2023 Intergenerational Report outlined population ageing and rising demand for care and support services as two ‘major forces’ shaping Australia’s outlook. Accordingly, the report highlighted the need for Government investment in care and support systems, towards boosting prosperity, expanding opportunity and building a stronger, more sustainable and inclusive nation.

The Government has also publicly committed to ending violence against women and children through implementation of the National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children 2022-32. Further, enhancing women’s economic safety and security has been a dominant theme of public discourse, notably through the Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce. Significant opportunity therefore exists for the Government to harness current momentum around the issue and take the lead on nurturing a stronger culture of safety and respect across society. This includes resourcing the supports and financial assistance that allow individuals to gain economic security and escape violence.

The forthcoming National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy also represents genuine recognition of the sector’s significant contribution, in both social and economic terms, to the welfare of the nation. Its promise to lay out a roadmap for enabling a sustainable and productive sector offers real potential for Government to practically deliver on the care and support needs and expectations of all Australians.

Perhaps most significantly, however, the Australian Government’s National Wellbeing Framework offers a pragmatic tool for Government to use in refocussing budgetary decision making to concentrate on our country’s greatest resource—its people; towards creating a more healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous nation.

Delivering a genuine Wellbeing Budget through greater investment in people and the supports they rely on would embody the Government’s thought leadership demonstrated to date and enable it to fulfil its most critical role and purpose—in improving the lives of all Australians.

Adopting a Wellbeing Lens

To deliver both immediate relief as well as improved wellbeing outcomes for all Australians over the longer-term, we forward the following criteria as a frame for assessing budgetary proposals through a wellbeing lens. These criteria embody the principles and objectives of the National Wellbeing Framework, National Strategy for the Care and Support Economy and 2023 Intergenerational Report.

Criterion 1: How does the proposal improve wellbeing and enhance outcomes against each indicator in the National Wellbeing Framework?

Criterion 2: How does the proposal improve equality, economic and social participation, particularly for disadvantaged cohorts?

Criterion 3: How does the proposal demonstrate a return on government investment and improved wellbeing for individuals and communities over the longer term? We call on the Government to implement the following high-impact proposals, developed to satisfy the above criteria and complement existing government initiatives, towards delivering immediate relief to Australians in crisis and long-term wellbeing improvements for the broader community.