Policies are often built ‘on the run’ as quick reactions to the political issue of the day, designed to capture the interest of the 24-hour news cycle or motivated by short-term political advantage. This report addresses the problem that policymaking in Australia is falling short of best practice.

This discussion paper makes the case for the creation of a public bank in Australia by providing Australia Post with an Authorised Deposit-taking Institution (ADI) licence, and moving in time to establishing 'PostBank' as a full national savings and loan bank.

As with all postal services, Australia Post’s revenues have been under pressure since the advent and wide adoption of digital communications. While offset by the rise in parcel delivery through online shopping, and effective innovations to its products and services over the last decade, Australia Post is still faced by significant operational pressures.

In the context of declining home ownership and growing housing insecurity among older Australians, this paper asks whether social housing can provide the three critical functions of home (asset, gateway and expression) as people age.

Current estimates suggest as many as 700,000 people may soon be signed up to Jobactive employment services. This discussion paper argues there is a need to redesign employment services to better meet the needs of people experiencing unemployment after the COVID-19 economic shock.