Centre for Policy Development's Blog

CPD supports truth-telling and Treaty with First Peoples

In 2023, the Centre for Policy Development (CPD) supported the “Yes” vote for the Voice, because our work has repeatedly shown that public policy works best when all the voices of those experiencing the policy are heard in the process of its design and implementation. 

For the same reason, CPD supports the Treaty process in Victoria. The bill that will be debated in the Victorian Parliament this week is Australia’s first treaty bill, and is the result of the tireless advocacy of First Nations leaders and communities. We very much hope that the Treaty Bill is passed as it is a powerful step towards justice and self-determination for First Peoples in Victoria. 

We celebrate and acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the lands where we work, and the many other First Peoples we work with. We recognise that when it comes to First Peoples’ communities, cultures and lands, the experts are First Peoples. Reconciliation with, and recognition of, First Peoples is a daily commitment, and CPD is committed to undertaking this with humility and in conversation and relationship with First Peoples.  We want to play our part in creating a better future together. 

By making this pledge, we affirm our commitment to the self-determination of First Peoples in Victoria and across Australia.  Together, we will create a future where First Peoples’ voices are heard, rights are respected, and justice is realised for generations to come.  

To support Treaty, we have made specific and tangible commitments. The most notable of which is that across our Focus Areas we will involve First Peoples in our policy development work and ensure their lived expertise shines through in the policy recommendations we make.

In this historic week when the first Treaty bill is debated in an Australian parliament, we encourage everyone to join the national movement of First Nations peoples and allies for truth, Treaty and justice at Together for Treaty.

New Measuring What Matters data a key ingredient for guiding long-term economic reform

The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) welcomes today’s release of the updated Measuring What Matters dashboard by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). As the government commits to key economic reforms on the back of its Economic Reform Roundtable, this release is a timely reminder of the need to track how Australians are faring, alongside topline productivity and GDP.

The dashboard brings together more than 50 metrics that aim to give a clearer picture of how healthy, sustainable, secure, cohesive and prosperous we are. 

“It’s encouraging to see the government broaden its focus from quick, short-term fixes to long-term economic reform,” said CPD CEO Andrew Hudson. “Staying the course on this will require us to keep an eye on not just traditional economic metrics, but the direction in which our long-term wellbeing is trending. These measures will light the path.

 “For example, is the Treasurer’s post-roundtable goal of a better tax system reducing inequality? Is the goal of building a skilled and adaptable workforce leading to more job opportunities, more secure jobs and better job satisfaction? Without having this information in one place, we’d be driving blind.”

This year’s update showed significant improvements in timeliness of data, with many metrics having 2024, and sometimes 2025, data points. 

While up to date metrics like those provided through Measuring What Matters are a key element of success, Hudson stressed the importance of moving from measurement to action.

A recent Auditor-General report on the design and implementation of the framework found that it was largely effective, but that Treasury did not have arrangements in place to assess if the framework was meeting its policy objective.  

“Embedding Measuring What Matters into the way the government works and makes decisions will help to ensure decisions are made in the interests of the Australian people. It will drive a more efficient use of public money, a more capable and effective government, and better quality of life for people now and into the future,” said Hudson. 

“We hope to see the Measuring What Matters dashboard and framework guide the government’s productivity and economic reform agenda, with an ultimate view to purposeful reforms that build an equitable, inclusive, and sustainable society.”

Notable changes in the 2025 dashboard

Income and wealth inequality: The Gini coefficient for income has worsened over the long term, increasing from 0.298 in 2002-03 to 0.3075 in 2022-23 (a lower Gini coefficient represents more equal income distribution). 

On the other hand, the Gini coefficient for wealth has improved over the long term, from 0.610 in 2002-03 to 0.584 in 2022-23.

Examples of policy action: The suggested reforms in CPD’s recent Productivity with Purpose report ahead of the government’s roundtable all focused on the need to ensure that future productivity gains are shared equitably, including among those that are finding it hardest to get ahead. 

Childhood development: The proportion of children developmentally on track in all five domains of the Australian Early Development Census is down to 52.9% in 2024, from 54.8% in 2021, and 55.4% in 2018. 

Examples of policy action: A truly universal early childhood education and care system, like that proposed in CPD’s Growing Together report last year, would hugely improve childhood development. 

Economic resilience: Australia’s ranking out of 145 countries in the Economic Complexity Index dropped one place to 105th in 2023, and has dropped 41 places since 2003.

Examples of policy action: To improve economic resilience, CPD has previously recommended setting clear directions for economic development through frameworks like Future Made in Australia, and ensuring that its directional specialist investment vehicles like the Clean Energy Finance Corporation and National Reconstruction Fund are equipped to take sufficient risks (e.g. by amending their mandates).

Acceptance of diversity dropped in 2024, with 71% of people agreeing that “accepting immigrants from many different countries makes Australia stronger”, down from 78% in 2023. However this measure has improved since 2018 when it was 63%.

National safety: The proportion of people who feel ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’ based on views of world events has dropped significantly from 62% to 51% from 2024 to 2025. This has also dropped significantly over time from 91% in 2005. 

Access to care and support services: The proportion of people with a disability who need more formal assistance than they are currently receiving is at 39.4% in 2022, up from 37.5% in 2018. The proportion of people aged 65 years and over who need more formal assistance than they are currently receiving is at 15.4% in 2022, up from 9.7% in 2018.

CPD welcomes new Productivity Commission care economy report, urges government to build on reform momentum

The Centre for Policy Development (CPD) welcomes the Productivity Commission’s interim report Delivering Quality Care More Efficiently, and urges the government to adopt its key recommendations while going further with purpose-driven reforms that put the value of care services at the centre of Australia’s productivity agenda.

CPD CEO Andrew Hudson says the report’s recommendations – particularly on prevention, collaborative commissioning and reducing service fragmentation – are important steps toward a care system that delivers better outcomes for people and communities.

“The Productivity Commission is right to acknowledge that care services create immense social and economic value that is invisible in standard productivity measures,” said Mr Hudson. “We want productivity growth that truly improves lives, so we must measure and invest in quality, outcomes and prevention – rather than just counting costs.”

The Commission’s recommendation for a National Prevention Investment Framework – supported by an independent advisory board – closely reflects CPD’s recommendations in submissions to the inquiry and in recent research (cited by the PC), including Avoidable Costs and Banking the Benefits. Not only will this help governments model and invest in prevention and early intervention – it will deliver better outcomes and save money over time.

CPD encourages the government to expand on this reform by applying the Framework to any preventative policy and allowing for the inclusion of second-round fiscal effects in any policy proposal before Cabinet. This would ensure the true costs and benefits of all policies are fully understood, rather than just specific prevention programs in the care sector.

“When we invest in prevention, we not only avoid higher costs down the track – we create a healthier, happier and more productive society,” said Mr Hudson. “It’s smarter, fairer and better value for public money.”

The Commission’s recommendation to embed collaborative commissioning to reduce duplication and improve services in the health system is also welcome, particularly when combined with secure, long-term funding so providers can better plan and deliver services more effectively. 

CPD encourages the government to extend collaborative commissioning beyond health into all social services, and broaden the collaborative focus beyond levels of government to include co-designing services with the communities that use them.

CPD also welcomes the focus on streamlining regulation across care sectors to remove duplication and free up essential time that care staff could spend providing extra care. However the interim report could better recognise the difficulty in regulating largely privatised sectors like early childhood education and care, where providers are left to set prices and manage quality and workforce on their own terms.

“The subsidy approach in early education has fuelled rising fees, and patchy access. The government should consider new funding models that support not-for-profit providers, which are twice as likely to exceed national quality standards.

“The Commission’s report is a strong foundation for reform,” said Mr Hudson. “By building on these recommendations and taking a broader, purpose-driven approach, the government can ensure that productivity in the care economy works for people and communities.”

New report urges government to align productivity with purpose

As the government sharpens its focus on productivity growth ahead of its upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable, a new report from the Centre for Policy Development (CPD) says that reform efforts must be guided by a clear purpose – ensuring the benefits are widely shared and do not worsen existing crises such as inequality, cost of living, housing shortages, or climate breakdown.

“We shouldn’t assume that productivity gains will automatically translate into better lives,” said CPD CEO Andrew Hudson. “If we want a stronger economy that actually delivers for people, we need to make that the explicit goal – not just a hopeful by-product.”

The report, Productivity with Purpose, sets out practical reforms for tying productivity to outcomes that Australians value – such as secure work, affordable, high quality care and faster progress on net zero.

Structured around three priority areas – a more resilient and dynamic economy, a stronger care economy, and a faster, fairer net zero transition – the report brings together CPD submissions made to the Productivity Commission’s five pillar inquiries as well as contributions to the government’s Economic Reform Roundtable.

“Our recommendations are about giving government the tools and direction to grow the economy in a way that delivers real value to people – more time with family and friends, better health, and stronger community connection,” Mr Hudson said. “It’s a chance to turn productivity into something purposeful, not just a numbers game.”

Key recommendations include:

Bold tax reform: Broaden the tax base and shift the mix away from income and towards land, rents and consumption – including increasing and broadening GST, raising income tax thresholds for those in lower brackets, introducing a national resource rent tax, and replacing stamp duties with a broad-based land tax.Valuing care and prevention: Adopt quality-adjusted productivity measures in care services, increase investment in prevention (with universal early childhood education and care highlighted as a key opportunity) and create a national framework for preventative policy based on the Victorian Early Intervention Investment Framework (EIIF).Boosting efficiency in the net zero transition: Expand the Safeguard Mechanism, frontload clean energy investment to lower high initial costs, amend the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act to consider climate impacts, and update investment mandates for agencies like the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) to spur innovation.

“We’re calling on the government to think big – and act now – on reforms that can set Australia up for generations,” said Mr Hudson. “Some of these changes will take time, but there are immediate steps we can take today to secure a fairer, more sustainable future.”

A super-sized GST – with a $3300 cheque in the mail for all

All Australians would receive $3300 a year in exchange for accepting a higher and broader GST under a plan which proponents claim would boost the budget by $28 billion a year while driving up the nation’s living standards.

Environmental approvals dominate agenda for Jim Chalmers’ economic roundtable as tax reform takes a back seat

Streamlining environmental approvals is dominating the agenda ahead of Jim Chalmers’ economic reform roundtable, with a push for a national deregulation plan proving to be even bigger than tax reform.

Adelajda Soltysik & Ryan Martin: Prevention and productivity – How to get the most out of public money and improve wellbeing

Prioritising investments in preventative measures can generate long-term savings and boost productivity – all while improving people’s lives and community wellbeing.

New safety laws welcome – but lasting change means reforming the system

The Centre for Policy Development has welcomed today’s introduction of child safety legislation into parliament, but urged the government to go further by staying the course on broader reforms to create a truly universal early education and care (ECEC) system.

While suspending or cutting off funding to providers that fail to meet minimum standards is likely to have a positive effect on safety and quality in the short-term, many of the broader issues affecting childcare in Australia are a direct result of the marketised approach to the system and require far more substantial reform.

“Stronger penalties for unsafe providers are important, but they won’t fix a system that was never designed to put children first,” said Andrew Hudson, CEO of the Centre for Policy Development.

“For too long, early childhood education has operated as a private market – leaving governments with limited tools to manage quality, access, or safety across the system. That’s what needs to change.”

CPD’s research has consistently shown that a universal ECEC system – built on supply-side funding, low set-fees for parents, more centres and educators, and stronger governance – would be safer, more affordable, and higher quality than the current system.

“The government knows it needs to take a stronger role in managing essential services. Multiple inquiries and royal commissions – in aged care, employment services and now childcare – have told us as much.” 

“Systemic reform will take time and investment – but the alternative is to keep pouring billions into a model that doesn’t meet the needs of children and families.”

CPD is calling on the government to use this moment as a catalyst for long-term, transformative reform – turning a system marked by high fees, educator shortages and quality concerns into one that delivers affordable, accessible and high quality care for every child, in every community.

Avoidable costs in government

By spending on prevention and early intervention governments can achieve better outcomes and better value for public money, says the Centre for Policy Development.

While all countries measure their GDP in wealth, Scotland is aiming for a ‘wellbeing economy’

CPD senior strategic adviser Katherine Trebeck speaks to Prue Bentley about global progress towards a wellbeing economy.