ABSTRACT
Whilst Australia has a reputation for being a prosperous country with a high standard of living, data show that it is also characterised by significant happiness and wellbeing gaps across its population. This reflects the wellbeing challenges experienced by vulnerable and disadvantaged groups within its population - including Indigenous Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, refugees and newly arrived migrants, those living with a disability and those in aged care. These disadvantages are exacerbated by Australia’s unique geography, which imposes extremes in terms of distance and climate, thus creating additional wellbeing pressures for rural and remote communities - especially those affected by bushfires, floods and climate change. Finally, and in common with many other OECD countries, Australia’s wellbeing performance has been eroded by COVID-19 and by the blunt, contractionary monetary instruments used to control inflation - again, with the severest impacts experienced by those facing the greatest wellbeing challenges. Against this backdrop, this chapter will explore Australia’s complex wellbeing landscape and its specific institutional, economic, social and political obstacles to wellbeing.
