What we're working on

Cost of living relief

Inflation is putting pressure on family budgets across the country. That’s why our plans for cheaper child care, cheaper power prices, cheaper medicines and more affordable housing are so important.

We’ve begun the work of building an economy that works for people, not the other way around. And it starts with getting wages moving.

Wages that pay the bills

Good secure work should pay the bills. That’s not too much to ask. But for too many Australians, it’s simply not the reality – because we've had a decade of governments that deliberately kept wages low.

In our first month in office we argued for – and achieved – a pay rise for millions of minimum wage workers, the people who kept our country running during the pandemic. We have made a submission to the Fair Work Commission in support of higher pay for aged care workers. And we've got plans for better jobs and wages for all Australians.

And we’ve introduced legislation for 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave, because nobody should have to choose between their job and their safety.

Jobs and skills

Our Jobs and Skills Summit in September is bringing together unions, workers and businesses both big and small to discuss ways we can increase wages while boosting profits.

We're investing in free TAFE and additional university places, so more Australians can get the skills and education they need to work in the areas where we have skills shortages.

By training more apprentices for good, secure jobs, we’ll be able to build up our local industries and make more things here.

Cheaper and cleaner energy

After years of delay and denial and division, we took immediate action to restore security to the national grid, to prevent blackouts and keep the lights on. That's why we've already passed a climate change bill which will give the whole country certainty and allow us to deliver on our plan to create jobs, cut emissions and invest in cheaper energy.

But the main game this decade is Australia becoming a clean energy superpower. We have a unique opportunity to emerge as a winner in a low pollution global economy. We have the best resources in the world – including our people. Labor’s Powering Australia plan will create jobs, cut power bills, and reduce emissions by boosting renewable energy.

Protecting our health and strengthening Medicare

We've worked closely with states and territories to ensure we have a coordinated response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We finalised a partnership to start manufacturing mRNA vaccines here in Australia with the Victorian Government, Monash University, and Moderna.

Coming up, we’re building at least 50 Urgent Care Clinics, to rescue bulk-billing from a decade of cuts to Medicare and to improve GP access.

Strengthening Medicare and taking the pressure off hospitals is not going to be finished in one year or one term – but it’s vital for the health of our country and the strength of our economy that we begin.

An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament

Right around the country, we've started consulting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities about enshrining a Voice to Parliament in our Constitution.

Giving people a voice in decisions that impact them will lift our whole nation up. The Uluru Statement from the Heart was the ultimate act of generosity – the offer of a genuine partnership, and a real chance for us to create a reconciled Australia.

Fixing the crisis in aged care

Older Australians – and the families who care for them – deserve a system that provides dignity, safety and comfort. Under the previous government we saw shocking neglect. That's why we campaigned on a practical, concrete plan to fix the crisis in aged care, and we’re already implementing it. Our plans include:

• Registered nurses in every residential facility, 24/7
• A meaningful and long-overdue pay rise for the workforce
• More carers with more time to care, meeting the Royal Commission recommendation of 215 minutes per person
• Stronger transparency and accountability for providers

Improving Australia's disaster readiness

Thousands of Australians who face bushfires, floods and cyclones every year deserve to be protected by a Federal Government that plans ahead and invests to keep them safe. We've mounted the strongest biosecurity response in our nation's history to protect our agricultural sector from the threat of foot-and-mouth disease, and we've improved our readiness at home too. We're already delivering support to Australians who have been affected by floods and we've established a Special Envoy of Disaster Recovery. 

Our $200 million Disaster Ready Fund will curb the devastating impacts of natural disasters by investing in important disaster prevention projects like flood levees, sea walls, cyclone shelters, evacuation centres, fire breaks and telecommunications improvements.

Women's safety

As well as introducing legislation for 10 days of paid domestic violence leave, we're building an additional 4000 units of social housing to women and children experiencing family violence and older women on lower incomes.

Almost one in four Australian women have experienced violence from an intimate partner. Each week an Australian woman is murdered by her current or former partner. The need for change is urgent.

Disability support

Australians living with disability deserve the dignity and freedom that was first promised by the National Disability Insurance Scheme. We are rebuilding an NDIS that fulfils that promise, after years of funding cuts under the previous government. We've already increased NDIS pricing for support services by 9 percent to ensure NDIS participants have better access to safe support.

Relationships in our region and around the world

We're getting to work repairing and strengthening relationships in our region and around the world.

• Reset relations with France
• Provided military and humanitarian assistance to Ukraine
• Affirmed Australia's commitment to a $200 million climate and infrastructure partnership with Indonesia
• Reinvigorating our relationships with our closest neighbours in the Pacific, including through our commitments to tackle climate change
• Attended the Quad Leaders' Summit, the NATO Summit, the Pacific Island Forum and the Australia-New Zealand Leaders' Meeting