Over the past year, CPD made significant strides in putting transformative, long-term change back on the government’s agenda, and I couldn’t be more proud of the impact our team had on the policy environment both in Australia and throughout the Indo-Pacific.
Here’s just a few highlights:
I am greatly encouraged by the positive change we have helped implement and cannot wait to see what will come to fruition over the next twelve months.
Thank you for your continued support,
Andrew Hudson, CEO
Centre for Policy Development
Learn more about the impact our programs and initiatives had on the policy landscape both at home and abroad.
CPD engaged closely with Treasury, helping to deepen their thinking and raise their ambition on an enduring framework for Australian wellbeing.
The Making our way report shows how to build and use adaptive capacity in local economies exposed to climate transition.
CPD convened an event for the ASEAN energy business forum on Investing in Energy Transition in Indonesia: Bridging the gap between Policy and Practice with participation from Ncable, Quantum Power Asia, Indonesian state power generator PLN, the Indonesian Ministries of Investment, Finance, and Energy and Mineral Resources.
A brief history of Commonwealth involvement in early education and care was published by the Royal Commission chaired by former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
This work responded to Commonwealth ambition for Australia to be a renewable export superpower. Drawing on the July meeting of the 2035 Climate Initiative, this report shows decision-makers how to deploy public capital for long-term. success in the post-carbon industrial economy.
The milestone White Paper on Employment from Treasury adopted key CPD recommendations in its findings, identifying climate change, early childhood and employment services as critical elements of the future of Australian work.
The final report drew on CPD's work to recommend government immediately "Legislate to establish and invest in universal, high-quality and affordable early childhood education and care".
The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) released its second interim report, backing CPD's position on early childhood education affordability measures.
The recommendation for an entitlement to 30 hours of care a week for all families was an important step towards a truly universal system.
The final report of the Workforce Australia inquiry backed CPD researching recommending a more active, local approach to employment services.
This was an important first step in bringing the Future Fund into line with best practice on climate risk - a key recommendation of the Investing for Australia report.
The Federal Climate Action in Government Operations initiative will report the carbon footprint of public authorities for the first time, in line with CPD advice to Treasury.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen announced a major expansion of the Capacity Investment Scheme which will accelerate domestic energy system decarbonisation by boosting renewable generation capacity. Achieving this was a core recommendation of the Green gold report.
After strategic research and advocacy from CPD and partners across the sector, the draft Early Years Strategy embraced "a bold vision... to improve wellbeing outcomes for all children in Australia."
The culmination of 8 years of polling data, CPD's Purpose of Government Pulse report showed Australians see wellbeing as a top priority for policymakers.
The Treasurer published details of the Government’s mandatory climate risk disclosure regime, which will require companies to publicly disclose their exposure to climate risks. Importantly, this includes non-listed companies, mirroring CPD's long-standing recommendations.
CPD's work helped influence the design of the $200 million Australia-Indonesia Climate and Infrastructure Partnership and the announcement of a $2 billion green South East Asia Investment Fund at the ASEAN Summit in Melbourne.
The Commonwealth Government announced it would begin paying super on Commonwealth Parental Leave Pay from 1 July 2025. CPD has long supported this idea as a way not just to support parents, but support children, families and the economy.
Under Sam Mostyn’s leadership CPD became a potent force for bold, practical and collaborative reform throughout Australia and across our region. While we'll miss her guidance, we are extremely proud of Sam, who will be a formidable leader for our nation.
The proposed Future Made in Australia Act, a watershed moment for Australian industry policy, followed a year’s worth of CPD engagement with government. Decisions to strategically back key industries such as green hydrogen, green steel and high purity ammonia in a coordinated way are recommendations from both our Green Gold and Setting Direction reports.
The May Federal Budget carved out allowances for early childhood educators to receive a much-needed pay increase. This is a critical step in addressing workforce shortages and strengthening the foundation for universally accessible early childhood education and care (ECEC) – something CPD has long advocated for.
CPD has made significant strides towards a future where government services recognise and address the unique needs of individuals and communities in a way that truly supports their wellbeing.
In November 2023 an inquiry into Australia’s failed employment system agreed with our recommendations to overhaul the system with the ground-up, local-first model we proposed. The final report from the Inquiry into Workforce Australia included 100 references to CPD’s work, and adopted 15 of our key reforms in its final set of 75 recommendations.
CPD’s detailed recommendations were also reflected in the government’s Employment White Paper, which set out a vision for a more inclusive skills and labour market that provides better opportunities for more Australians. This included tailoring community services and enhancing collaboration across local, state, and federal levels to better support individual communities.
And our work helping to set up the Western Melbourne Jobs and Skills Collaboration started to pay dividends with $200 million in government investment committed to trial a regional employment model.
Our work developing policy for an environmentally and socially sustainable economy has made waves this past year.
For the first time in Australia, companies will be required to publicly disclose their carbon footprint, mirroring CPD’s long-standing work on climate and corporate governance which can be traced back to 2016. Integrally, this includes mandated reporting from non-listed companies as well as listed companies.
In a further win for transparency and accountability, the government announced it would disclose its own carbon footprint for the first time. It also mandated that its sovereign wealth fund the Future Fund disclose its holdings, aligning the fund with what is now required of super funds.
Our Green gold report provided detailed and practical insight into how to leverage Australia’s unique green industry advantages. The expansion of the government’s Capacity Investment Scheme and their support for processing high purity alumina onshore reflect key recommendations from this report.
Additionally, the government’s proposed Future Made in Australia Act follows a year’s worth of CPD engagement with government, and reflects key recommendations from both our Green gold and Setting direction reports.
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CPD has led the charge in pushing for bold, ambitious reforms to Australia’s early childhood development system that promise to enhance the lives of all children and families.
Our proposed reforms were reflected in the ACCC’s final report into early learning and care, including changes to how services are funded, better price regulation to help bring costs down for families and introducing government run services in underserved communities, particularly rural and remote areas.
The Productivity Commission adopted key CPD recommendations including implementing a child-focused, universal approach that would provide a guaranteed entitlement for all families to access 3 days of child care every week, a 100% childcare subsidy for families earning less than $80,000 per year, and a relaxation of the activity test.
The government also announced it will pay superannuation on paid parental leave and extend leave entitlements to 26 weeks, a move CPD heavily supported.
An active, effective government brings people and public institutions closer together, strengthens community connectedness, creates opportunity, and builds capability across the nation.
Since 2015, CPD has been measuring public attitudes to key questions around the purpose of government and democracy in Australia, and the performance of Australian governments in fulfilling these purposes.
In January we released our inaugural Purpose of Government Pulse, which was the first time these results have been released and analysed together. The data revealed a country with a steadfast belief in fair and equal treatment for all, that sees the government’s primary role as ensuring a decent standard of living and improving the overall wellbeing of the nation.
These findings serve as a pulse check of citizen attitudes, guiding our elected leaders to make decisions with living standards, wellbeing and future generations at the heart.
Our efforts promoting more effective regional coordination on protection of refugees have had a significant impact this year.
We saw the establishment of Australia’s first official Refugee Advisory Panel, a longstanding CPD recommendation to involve refugees in international dialogues and policy-making.
The Australian Government imposed new targeted sanctions against the Myanmar regime, which we worked behind the scenes to strongly advocate for.
We provided briefings to the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Myanmar, and his final report referenced CPD’s advocacy for greater involvement from Australia and Indonesia in the Bali Process framework.
As an international institutional partner during Indonesia’s ASEAN Chairmanship, we played a crucial role embedding sustainable finance and renewable energy strategies in the ASEAN joint statement on climate change and contributed to the development of the ASEAN Long-Term Renewable Energy Roadmap.
And the Australian Government announced a $2 billion investment package for energy transition and infrastructure for ASEAN nations, following sustained Australia-Indonesia engagement facilitated by CPD.
We’re working towards placing the wellbeing of current and future generations at the forefront of government decision making, and this last year saw significant impact.
In July last year Australia launched its first national wellbeing framework Measuring What Matters, providing a dashboard of indicators to better measure Australia’s progress, and to inform budget and policy decisions, drawing on a year’s worth of CPD recommendations.
In March, the NSW Government announced it would introduce a Performance and Wellbeing Framework as part of its upcoming budget. CPD’s active engagement with NSW Treasury and our high-level wellbeing roundtables and wellbeing policymakers network have brought attention to the importance of taking a wellbeing approach and the steps needed to do this effectively.
Also in March, CPD was involved in the re-establishment of the Wellbeing Economy Alliance Australia Hub, and has since made strong connections with policymakers and thought leaders in Australia. We also published a series of briefings for experts and policymakers globally to clarify ideas and approaches to wellbeing government.
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