Policy Hive is Per Capita’s early career policy network for policy professionals, students and anyone interested in learning more about how they can influence policy and politics to build an Australia based on fairness, shared prosperity and social justice. (Long time policy wonks also welcome!)

On Wednesday 18 June 2025, we heard from Gavan McFadzean from Australian Conservation Foundation on climate policy. Watch the recording below.

Following graduating with a degree in Economics and Politics at Monash University, Gavan McFadzean has had a 30-year career in environmental and climate activism. During a 12-year stint at The Wilderness Society, Gavan ran the Victorian Branch, the Northen Australia Program and the National Forest Campaign. He’s also been Campaign Director for the Leader’s Office of the Australian Greens under Richard di Natale. He is a recipient of Wild Magazine’s Environmentalist of the Year Award, a board member for Climate Action Network Australia, and has represented the movement in international negotiations at three climate COPs, the World Heritage Committee and as Australian Committee to the International Union for Conservation and Nature (IUCN). He is currently Program Manager – Climate and Energy for the Australian Conservation Foundation.

How Australian unions shaped modern Australian society

Unions are making a comeback. Labour disputes around the world have hit the headlines as unions take action to challenge inequality. But while media coverage has increased, understanding of unions has not. In this lively history of Australian unionism Liam Byrne seeks to illuminate what unionism means, exploring why successive generations of working people organised unions and nurtured them for future generations.

Foregrounding the pioneering efforts of women workers, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers, culturally and linguistically diverse workers, and LGBTIQA+ workers as central to the union story today, Byrne uses case studies of worker action and struggle to better understand the lived reality of unionism, its challenges, and its contribution to Australian life.

No Power Greater is the compelling story of the acts of rebellion and solidarity that have shaped Australia’s past and shows that unions are far from history.

Liam spoke at Per Capita’s John Cain lunch in June 2025. Watch the recording here:

Learn about transformational reforms like paid parental leave, the NDIS, the Apology to the Stolen Generations, and revolutionising pensions from Labor’s Jenny Macklin, with insights from Julia Gillard, Ross Garnaut, Bill Kelty, Brian Howe, and Tanya Plibersek.

Is big policy reform still possible? Does Australia have the political will to tackle generational issues such as climate change, the housing crisis, rising inequality and Closing the Gap? Legendary Labor policymaker Jenny Macklin believes that if Australia wants to remain prosperous and fair, big policy reform is not just possible, it’s essential.

Making Progress takes us into the policy engine room and details how Macklin went about developing transformational initiatives such as the Apology to the Stolen Generations, paid parental leave and the National Disability Insurance Scheme, as well as delivering pension reforms that lifted one million Australians out of poverty. She explains how she became a policy wonk, and interviews key policymakers such as Julia Gillard, Brian Howe, Bill Kelty, Tanya Plibersek and Ross Garnaut, who share how they war-gamed ways to turn good policy ideas into reality.

Part policy memoir, part war-room drama, part field guide, Making Progress: How Good Policy Happens is a political book with a message-and a method.

Jenny Macklin and Joel Deane, authors of ‘Making Progress: How good policy happens’ spoke at Per Capita’s John Cain Lunch in May 2025. Watch the recording here:

View our 2025 End of Financial Year Impact Report here.

Our 2025 End of Financial Year Impact Report looks summarises Per Capita’s work over the past 12 months, including policy changes we have helped secure, the Community Tax Summit we hosted, research projects we have worked on, our media coverage and public events.

May 2025 marked the beginning of a new era, both for Per Capita and for Australian progressive politics.

At Per Capita we farewelled our long-standing Executive Director,Emma Dawson. Emma’s commitment and expertise have built Per Capita into the respected, influential think tank we are today. As we enter a new era, our staff and board have a renewed commitment to our vision for a more equal Australia, under the leadership of newly appointed Acting Executive Director, Sarah McKenzie.

Nationally, the recent federal election has returned the Labor Party for a second term, opening new opportunities to advance a progressive policy agenda. Labor must view this emphatic result as a mandate for bold reform: to tackle the housing crisis head on, to spearhead meaningful action on climate change, to reorient the economic future of Australia’s younger generations through tax reform, and to restore Australia as the land of the Fair Go.

By Sarah McKenzie
Acting Executive Director, Per Capita

Gender quotas in the Australian Labor Party have transformed not only the make-up of the party, but that of our entire Federal Parliament. Australia is now on the verge of opening its first gender-equal Parliament, driven in large part by Labor’s landslide victory at the 2025 Federal Election. Other major parties are taking note. Labor’s quotas have not only brought more women into Parliament; they’ve also helped them stay there. With clear evidence that quotas work, is it time to legislate for gender equality in political representation, consolidate this progress and ensure future governments continue to deliver for women?

It matters who sits in the houses of parliament. Women have changed our parliaments, our politics, and our country. In 2022 the Albanese Government delivered the first majority-women federal government, and with that came a government that has done more for women and girls than any in our nation’s history.

We at Per Capita are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Race Mathews, a dear friend of Per Capita. We offer our heartfelt condolences to Iola and family.  

Race was truly a giant of Australian politics. His contributions to public policy in this country have been enormous, and his wisdom, advice and experience are weaved into the fabric of Per Capita. 

Race was a politician, an academic, an author and a reformer. He served at all three levels of government, including Croydon Shire Council, the Whitlam Government and the Victorian Cain and Kirner Governments. He was a stalwart of the Australian Fabian Society for over four decades.  

His legislative reforms span education, Medicare, gun control, police, disaster management, the arts and child protection. 

Race was driven by a passion for fairness and justice. He was a genuinely inclusive, intelligent, kind and welcoming man; the very best kind of politician that we have ever had in this country. 

Australians have decisively given the Labor government a second term, emphatically demonstrating that they want a future of action defined by equality, fairness, social justice and evidence-based policy. 

In their first term, Labor achieved a lot: reforming the stage three tax cuts, introducing tax evasion laws for multi-national corporations, investing more in social housing than any federal government in 30 years, criminalising wage theft, fixing a broken industrial relations system to get wages moving again, record investment in Medicare, revising HECS/HELP indexation, creating the Future Made in Australia plan, and much more.  

Having been handed a second term, Labor must view this resounding victory as a mandate for bold reform: to tackle the housing crisis head on, to spearhead meaningful action on climate change, to reorient the economic future of Australia’s younger generations, and to restore Australia as the land of the Fair Go 

With the 2025 federal election fast approaching, there have been many discussions around campaign promises and how either party plans to invest in Australia’s future.  

Much of the focus has been on housing and the cost of living. And while these are undoubtably important talking points, this election presents an opportunity to highlight a sector in the Australian economy that is often overlooked.  

With an aging and expanding population, our Care Economy requires meaningful and consistent attention on a national level.  

Like with the Future Made in Australia initiatives, where greater investments in manufacturing, renewable energy, and education will future-proof the careers of thousands of Australians and the economy, so too would investments in aged-care and early childhood care and education.  

Gippsland has proudly powered Victoria for generations. Now it’s forging a new energy future, powered by abundant resources of offshore wind and community spirit. Senator Jess Walsh details her experience with Gippsland’s community driven energy shift, the critical role of government in making it happen, and how to cut through the nuclear noise to focus on real, sustainable solutions. Jess spoke at Per Capita’s monthly John Cain Lunch in April 2025. Watch the recording below.

Dr Jess Walsh is a proud Labor Senator who believes a well-paid, stable job is the foundation for a good life in this country. Jess serves as Chair of the Senate Economics Committee which covers the Treasury, Industry, Science and Resources portfolios. She believes the economy needs to work for all Australians, with a focus on prioritising women, uplifting regional communities, and safeguarding our most vulnerable. Jess has been a loud voice for workers throughout her career and wants workers – from care economy workers to manufacturers – to be given the pay, conditions, and respect they deserve. Before entering Federal Parliament, Jess was a researcher, campaigner, and union leader.

An inside look at effective policy making, realised through hard-won public policy battles

What does successful public policy look like, and how has it been achieved in Australia? What strategies are needed to overcome petty partisanship and narrow self-interest? And who gets to decide what a ‘better Australia’ even looks like? In A Better Australia John Brumby, Scott Hamilton and Stuart Kells examine policy design, implementation and reform, and show what can be achieved when engagement is sincere and intent clear. Leading policymakers and political insiders – Julia Gillard, Malcolm Turnbull, Cheryl Kernot, John Hewson, Ken Wyatt, Christine Milne and more – dissect the development of successful policy in energy, gun control, natural resources taxation, disability insurance, marriage equality, gender equality in the workplace, superannuation, reproductive healthcare reform, Closing the Gap and the pandemic response. A Better Australia takes us behind the scenes of the hard-won policy battles, showing the wide-ranging effects of good policy.

John Brumby and Stuart Kells joined us for our March 2025 John Cain Lunch. Watch the recording below.

Political economist, writer and advocate for economic system change, Dr Katherine Trebeck gives the final keynote address for the Community Tax Summit. Recorded on the 21st of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

Katherine’s roles include writer-at-large at the University of Edinburgh, Economic Change Lead at The Next Economy, and Strategic Advisor to the Centre for Policy Development. She co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance (WEAll) and also WEAll Scotland, its Scottish hub.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Katherine Trebeck: Keynote Address appeared first on Per Capita.

Our second lived experience panel explores the outcomes of the current, inequitable system, as experienced by every day Australians with regard to climate change adaptation and resilience.

Recorded on the 21st of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne. The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Lived Experience Panel Two: Climate Change and the Regions appeared first on Per Capita.

The final session in the summit, Emma Dawson, Terese Edwards, Iain Walker, and Peter Lewis combine to discuss how we can take what we’ve learned from the past two days and apply it to changing the Australian tax and transfer system.

Recorded on the 21st of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne. The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post How to Achieve the Change we Need appeared first on Per Capita.

Tax Justice Network Australia’s Mark Zirnsak, Centre for International Corporate Tax Accountability and Research’s Jason Ward, Oxfam Australia’s Josie Lee, and Professor Grantley Taylor join the panel on International Taxation. Recorded on the 21st of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post International Taxation appeared first on Per Capita.

Lived Experience Panel, moderated by Nicole Bieske from Brotherhood of St Laurence. Nathan Carolus shares his experience of Jobseeker and employment service provision. Juanita McLaren shares her experience as a researcher and a single mum on income support and child support. Peter Sutton shares his experience with JobSeeker, the Disability Support Pension and Rent Assistance.

This powerful panel will change your views on welfare, showing the real reasons people find themselves needing assistance and the inadequacy of the current system.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne. The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Lived Experience Panel One: Welfare services appeared first on Per Capita.

ACOSS’s Peter Davidson, Professor Helen Hodgson, Think Forward’s Thomas Walker, and Per Capita’s Emma Dawson discuss just how we can broaden the tax base, creating a more fair, equitable, and sustainable tax and transfer system for all Australians. Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Broadening the Tax Base: What’s possible, sustainable and fair? appeared first on Per Capita.

Travers McLeod (Brotherhood of St Laurence), Kasy Chambers (Anglicare Australia), Elly Desmarchelier (Disability Rights Advocate) and Jenny Davidson (Council of Single Mothers and their Children) discuss the ways Australia’s tax and transfer system is impacting those most vulnerable in our community.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne. The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Welfare and Social Assistance appeared first on Per Capita.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, Dr Ken Henry AC gave the opening keynote address in the Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

Currently, Chair of the Nature Finance Council, the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation and Wildlife Recovery Australia, and a non-executive director of Accounting for Nature Ltd and the Digital Finance CRC, Dr Henry served as the Secretary to the Treasury from 2001 to 2011. He chaired the Howard Government’s tax review taskforce in 1997-98, the Rudd Government’s tax review published in 2010, and the Gillard Government’s White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century (2011 and 2012).

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system.

There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Ken Henry: Keynote Address appeared first on Per Capita.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, Dr Angela Jackson, CPSU National Secretary Melissa Donnelly, Professor Fran Baum AO speak on the importance of social infrastructure, care, and service industries and how they have been overlooked and neglected for too long. Recorded at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system.

There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Social Infrastructure, Care and Services appeared first on Per Capita.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, Per Capita’s Emma Dawson, ACOSS CEO Cassandra Goldie, Professor Roger Wilkins and Professor Sharon Bessell lead a discussion on Inequality of Wealth Income and Opportunity in the Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system.

There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Inequality of Wealth, Income and Opportunity appeared first on Per Capita.

Professor Miranda Stewart’s keynote address on Australia’s tax and transfer system and directions for reform. Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

Miranda Stewart is a Professor specialising in taxation law and policy at the Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne and an Honorary Professor at the Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University. In 2024, Miranda was a visiting fellow at the Australian Treasury. Her most recent book is Tax and Government in the 21st Century (Cambridge University Press).

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system. There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Miranda Stewart: Keynote Address appeared first on Per Capita.

Recorded on the 20th of February as part of Per Capita’s Community Tax Summit, Economist’s Saul Eslake, Alan Kohler, Anglicare Australia’s Maiy Azize, and Prosper Australia’s Tim Helm discuss the current housing crisis in relation to the tax and transfer system. Recorded at Solidarity Hall at Victorian Trades Hall, Melbourne.

The Community Tax Summit bought together Australian NFPs, Think Tanks, Advocacy Groups and more to kick off a “big conversation” about Australia’s tax and transfer system.

There our panels of experts and those with lived experience demonstrated that there is an genuine appetite for tax and transfer reform, which is both needed and wanted in the next term of Parliament.

The post Housing – The Great Australian Divide appeared first on Per Capita.

At Per Capita’s February John Cain Lunch, Think Forward’s Thomas Walker spoke about the “Tax Wealth Not Work” campaign, and Per Capita’s Emma Dawson spoke about the upcoming Community Tax Summit. Watch the recording below.

All our lives, we’ve been told that hard work leads to economic security and a good life. For many younger Australians, particularly those without family wealth, this now feels like a lie.

Younger workers face higher tax rates than millionaires, property investors, or wealthy retirees because our tax system rewards the wrong things – accumulation, speculation and rent-seeking.

Instead of being able to set up their lives, young people are loaded up with increased education and housing debt, or stuck paying unaffordable rents to grow the wealth of others, all while real wages decline.

There is broad agreement among economists, social security experts, business leaders and the community sector that Australia’s tax and transfer system needs structural reform: to lift productivity, realise the benefits of a net zero economy, fund the essential social services and infrastructure upon which we all rely, and reduce inequality within and between generations

Yet we are told repeatedly that the restructure needed is “too politically difficult” to be attempted. We cannot continue this way. Our children and grandchildren deserve better.