To turn this energy into lasting transformation, Foundations for Tomorrow have identified some essential considerations to guide the next steps.
Two powerful shifts define our political opportunity
The growing support for Future Generations Policy.Australians are demanding leadership beyond the next election, civil society advocacy is building momentum, and political champions are stepping up across parties. However, follow-through into transformational reform agendas is proving challenging.
There is a growing appetite for generational reform.Although it is still too often framed narrowly. At present, "generational reform" is most often used in economic or fiscal terms. That framing matters, but it risks shrinking a transformative agenda into another budget exercise. The challenge is to expand this lens, ensuring that economic resilience connects to environmental sustainability, cultural renewal, and social fairness.
Terminology and coherence
Language is never neutral. At the federal level, political champions speak of "the wellbeing of current and future generations." States are experimenting with "intergenerational wellbeing", and discussions of "wellbeing economy" continue based on decades of sustained advocacy.
- Fragmentation of language: Different jurisdictions and actors using inconsistent terminology can confuse stakeholders, dilute messaging, and undermine national coherence.
- Narrow economic framing: Framing future generations policy primarily as an economic project risks sidelining environmental, cultural, and social dimensions.
- Policy-heavy jargon: Overly academic or policy-heavy language risks alienating the public.
- Local innovation, national coherence: Support states and territories in localising implementation whilst maintaining strong national connections for knowledge sharing.
- Bridge to the wellbeing economy: Position future generations policy and the wellbeing economy as overlayed agendas.
- Meet leaders where they are: Engage with terms like generational reform that already resonate with political champions, while carefully broadening them.
- Accessibility matters: Translate abstract concepts into plain, relatable language so everyday Australians can see themselves in the story.
Sequencing and political appetite
Momentum is building, but timing and order matter. Reforms must be sequenced to build legitimacy, align with political appetite, and avoid common traps that leave investment, progress and/or reform vulnerable to backsliding.
- Dashboards trap: Creating dashboards or wellbeing indicators without embedding them in legislation, institutional reform, or broader civic engagement efforts can stall genuine progress.
- Overstretching appetite: Moving too far, too fast can provoke backlash, drain political capital, and cause reform fatigue.
A Wellbeing of Future Generations Act should remain the gold standard for institutionalising long-term thinking. While interim actions can deliver early wins, they must not be mistaken as substitutes for legislative reform. Advancing concurrent reforms across jurisdictions can help entrench cultural and policy shifts.