Australia launches national wellbeing dashboard to measure prosperity

Australia unveiled a new national wellbeing dashboard to measure progress on health, education, and the environment. It aims to strike a balance between economic and social goals.

The dashboard will show indicators in five categories – healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive, and prosperous – updated annually.

These indicators will complement traditional economic measurements like GDP, inflation, and employment.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers explained, “Our social and economic objectives don’t have to conflict. The national wellbeing framework shows they can work together.”

The government released a report called “Measuring What Matters” alongside the dashboard, highlighting progress and challenges.

Positive developments included increased life expectancy, decreased resource use, greater diversity, higher incomes, and improved employment rates.

However, chronic health conditions, national security, biodiversity, and fiscal sustainability had all worsened.

Nearly half the population had chronic health issues, and 13% reported mental health problems. Access to healthcare and wait times for treatment also declined.

Household financial stress and housing access had deteriorated, even before recent increases in the cost of living and borrowing costs.

Overall, 20 indicators had improved, 7 remained stable, and 12 declined over the past few decades.

Australia joins other countries, such as Bhutan, in expanding policymaking beyond traditional economic measures.

(Reporting by Wayne Cole and Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)