A Multi-Dimensional Research and Policy Initiative from the Carmichael Centre at the Centre for Future Work
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia has been gripped by a severe cost-of-living crisis. This crisis is not simply about increasing costs—it’s about declining living standards, stagnating real wages, and a policy response that too often worsens the problem rather than solving it.
Higher inflation after the pandemic, combined with rising interest rates and stagnant wage growth, has left many Australian households struggling to afford basic necessities. While official inflation figures capture broad economic trends, they fail to reflect the real pressures experienced by working people—particularly when it comes to essentials like food, housing, and energy. Worse still, interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have increased mortgage repayments, adding even more strain on household budgets.
The traditional economic response to inflation—monetary austerity—has proven both blunt and harmful. By deliberately slowing the economy to control inflation, the RBA has ignored the root causes of today’s crisis: rising corporate profits, price gouging, and deep wage stagnation. As a result, many Australians are caught in a policy trap—punished by both inflation and the responses meant to contain it.
Globally, dissatisfaction with the decline in real wages and rising costs has sparked political instability. In 2024, many governments that managed the pandemic were voted out, with rising disillusionment opening the door for far-right populists and extremist movements. We want to avoid that possibility in Australia.
A New Approach: Multi-Dimensional Policy and Research
To counter this trajectory, the Carmichael Centre at the Centre for Future Work launched a wide-ranging research and policy development initiative. Our aim was to deepen understanding of the crisis, challenge harmful economic narratives, and chart a fairer, more sustainable course.
Key Initiatives in the Project
1. Power, Profits, and Price Gouging
As part of the 2024 Carmichael Lecture, Professor Emeritus Allan Fels AO—former Chair of the ACCC—outlined how unchecked corporate power and profit-seeking behaviour have driven up prices across the economy. He called for stronger government regulation to combat price gouging and protect consumers.
2. Living the Crisis: Worker Testimonies
In-depth interviews with Australian workers documented the lived experience of the cost-of-living crisis. These personal stories bring to life the everyday challenges of inadequate wages, rising debts, and declining public supports.
3. Doing It Tough: National Survey Findings
A survey of over 1,000 Australians painted a clear picture of financial stress across the country. The Doing It Tough report reveals widespread concern about the affordability of housing, energy, and essentials, with low-income households hardest hit.
📄 Access the report
4. Big Problems Can Be Solved: National Symposium
On 17 October 2024, we brought together leading economists, union leaders, civil society groups and academics for a symposium to identify positive, non-austerity policy solutions. The dialogue focused on practical ideas—like investing in public housing, improving collective bargaining, and reinvesting in services—to restore living standards.
📰 Learn more about the symposium
5. Explainer: Raising Australia's Living Standards
This Carmichael Centre explainer presents the causes, effects, and solutions to the living standards crisis in a clear and accessible format. A perfect introduction to how we got into this crisis and how we move forward.
6. Investment and Inclusion Series
This four-part research series features four powerful papers that challenge prevailing economic and public policy narratives and offer practical solutions to Australia’s living standards crisis. These commentaries illuminate what’s gone wrong—and, crucially, how we can fix it.
7. Solving the Crisis: Raising the Living Standards of Australian Workers
This upcoming handbook distils key research, policy analysis, and common-sense tools for understanding Australia’s cost-of-living crisis. It empowers working people to cut through political spin and media myths, offering a clear lens on the structural factors driving inequality and stagnation.
Some of Australia’s leading progressive economists and social policy analysts explain why we have a crisis in living standards and how we can fix it. A progressive policy agenda for a second term Albanese Government is advanced in this comprehensive publication.
Building a Fairer Economic Future
Our multi-dimensional initiative shows that there are better, fairer alternatives to managing economic challenges than simply tightening the belt. By centring workers’ experiences and building a robust evidence base, we are mapping a path to a progressive economic agenda that lifts living standards, reduces inequality, and strengthens democracy.
This initiative was funded in part by the Victorian Government.
