Australia faces intergenerational challenges from a sound foundation. While many OECD countries share our demographic challenges, Australia is in a stronger position to meet them than most.

Australia's population is not ageing as fast as many others, and steady progress in reform has seen the economy experience uninterrupted economic growth for more than a decade. Recently, terms of trade improvements ‑ increases in the price of exports relative to imports ‑ have contributed to Australia's strong economic position.

In the five years since IGR1, the Australian Government has strengthened its fiscal position by accumulating surpluses, eliminating net debt and establishing the Future Fund to provision for unfunded liabilities.

Reforms to support future growth include reductions in personal tax from rate cuts and threshold increases, workplace relations changes, changes to income support arrangements along with programmes to help people enter the labour force, and improvements to the superannuation system.

These reforms improve incentives to work and the flexibility of the labour market, strengthen our economy and improve living standards. These are intergenerational policies ‑ policies with benefits for current and future generations. They aim to improve prospects for economic growth and better manage spending pressures.