The Federal Budget is a reflection of the vision and values of the government of the day. So what does the 2018 Budget say about Australia’s current leadership and the direction it’s setting for our nation? Australia21 has unpacked the policy decisions and the messages they convey, as well as the post-Budget commentary. Now Chair, Paul Barratt, delivers our verdict.

Policy was often ignored in favour of politicking in Australia’s parliaments in 2017, so Australia21 has set out a roadmap to keep our MPs on track through 2018. We urge them to tackle issues that really matter this year, where evidence shows the nation will benefit from apolitical discussion and sensible decisions.

As the year comes to a close, Australia21 is proud to release our 2016-17 Annual Report. We did a lot with very little over the period, running nationally significant projects, boosting our profile and calibrating the goals that will keep us powering on through 2017-2018.

The final Australia21 Board meeting of 2017 was a rare opportunity to meet face-to-face. The time together sowed the seeds for new approaches and themes, while revealing fresh sources of energy and providing a strong foundation for the work to come in 2018.

There’s a range of data available about the labour market and predictions about the future of work, but the voice of young people is often missing in contemporary research. Now Australia21 is doing something about that, through our youth-led Making our Future Work initiative, piloted in 2017. Please donate to keep it going in 2018.

Help Australia21 improve public policy decision-making through high quality, evidence-based research to ensure a fair, sustainable and inclusive future.

In the Making our Future Work project, our objective is to gain and articulate an empathic understanding of how young people are perceiving and experiencing the world of work, now and as they look to the future, to help inform the development of policies and programs.

A Melbourne school has signed up to pilot Australia21’s Smarter About Drugs Conversation Pack to engage its students in open and informed discussions about illicit drugs and the policies that guide Australia’s response to them. In other developments this month, the Making the Future Work project has been awarded $10,000 grant, there’s been a major shift on PTSD and we give you a sneak preview of our soon-to-be released Algal Farming report.