The Countdown Tracker
Australia has the means to ensure that children and young people can thrive. We are in a critical period, and failure to act risks leaving a generation behind. The annual Countdown Progress Report assesses how Australia is delivering for children and young people. It tracks 22 measures across seven health and wellbeing domains and evaluates progress on eight targeted policy actions that will improve Australia’s performance against these measures.
The Countdown Policy Actions and Community Sentiment
The good news is the solutions are within our grasp.
Future Healthy Countdown 2030 has a policy platform that, if implemented before 2030, could deliver lasting improvements for children, young people, and future generations in Australia. Our eight policy actions were selected through a consensus-building process and reflect realistic, impactful national reforms building on existing momentum.
The latest Countdown Progress Report tracks community sentiment for each policy and recent policy activity or funding changes to identify where momentum for change is growing.
The Countdown policy actions
1. Overarching
Establish a federal Future Generations Commission with legislated powers to protect the interests of future generations.
2. Material basics
Provide financial support to invest in families with young children and address poverty and material deprivation in the first 2,000 days of life.
3. Valued, loved and safe
Establish a national investment fund to provide sustained, culturally relevant, maternal and child health and development home visiting services for the first 2,000 days of life for all children facing structural disadvantage and/or adversity.
4. Positive sense of identity and culture
Implement a dedicated funding model for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled early years services across the country to ensure these services are fully resourced to provide quality early learning and integrated services grounded in culture and community.
5. Learning and employment pathways
Properly fund public schools, starting by providing full and accountable Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding for all schools, with immediate effect for schools in communities facing structural disadvantage.
6. Healthy
Establish legislation and regulation to protect children and young people under 18 years from the marketing of unhealthy and harmful products.
7. Participating
Amend the electoral act to extend the compulsory voting age to 16 years.
8. Environments and sustainable futures
Legislate an immediate end to all new fossil fuel projects in Australia.