The Regional Australia Institute (RAI) welcomes the Treasury’s interest in developing a national wellbeing framework, and in seeking views on ‘measuring what matters’ to improve the lives of all Australians.
Budget Statement 4 clearly sets out the logic and thinking behind this direction, and the RAI is pleased to contribute to the discussion.
In ‘Measuring what Matters’ the RAI commends the Government on building a policy framework with potential to close the inequalities that exist between metropolitan Australia and regional areas – this is Regionalisation at work. Based on more than a decade of research into the most important issues influencing the regions, in 2022 RAI launched the Regionalisation Ambition 2032 - A Framework to Rebalance the Nation (the Ambition). The Ambition sets out a holistic approach to tracking progress in Australia’s regions, with many of the policy areas and targets overlapping with current thinking on well-being measures.
The RAI recognises that agreeing on, measuring, and monitoring national measures of well-being will be a complex task for the Australian Government. The RAI supports using the OECD Framework as a foundation, noting the importance of tailoring the indicators and analytical tools to suit our Australian context.
February 2023; RAI Submission To Measuring What Matters
Download