A fair go for all

Key findings

We find that: 

• 97% believe that policies today should take into account the interests of future generations. 
• 81% agree that Australian politicians generally think too short-term when making decisions.
• Three quarters agree that visions for the next 10-20 years are given too little emphasis in the political debate in Australia. 
• Australians have the least confidence in policymakers’ skills and knowledge to make policy on AUKUS, artificial intelligence and climate adaptation. 
• 78% believe that Australia should establish a Commissioner for Future Generations. 

Australians across different demographics had relatively consistent views on long-term policymaking, however there were some key differences: 

• Young people have a more positive view of policymakers' skills and knowledge than older generations. 
• Older generations tended to rank health a higher priority concern than young people. 
• LGBTIQ+ are 20 percentage points more likely than heterosexual people to care about the loss of biodiversity in Australia (63% compared to 43%).
• People with a disability were more than twice as likely to strongly disagree that policymakers have the skills or knowledge to develop long-term policy on housing (20% as compared to 9%) on average. Women were much more likely to care about healthcare, wellbeing for children and youth, welfare, and economic reform for environmental sustainability than men are.