Today the ABS has released its first annual Measuring What Matters dashboard, housing Australia’s wellbeing framework established by the Albanese Government.
This newly renovated dashboard will place a national focus on wellbeing beyond other critical indicators like GDP, employment and wages – embedding the framework as a robust and permanent source of accountability.
This is about measuring what matters most to Australians to deliver better outcomes for our communities and our economy.
The dashboard is an interim step to help to inform a more comprehensive statement that the Government will publish every three years to support policy development.
It shows data and trends across 50 selected indicators grouped under themes: healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive, and prosperous – themes explored in last year’s first Measuring What Matters Statement.
This release updates over 80 per cent of indicators with new data, building on last year’s dashboard by providing extra insights from more data sources, as well as core metrics.
It makes all data publicly available in one place, allowing anyone to explore the trends driving wellbeing in Australia and track our progress.
There are still too many holes in this data, and some of it is still far too old.
That’s why in the 2024–25 Budget, the Government has invested $14.8 million over five years for the ABS to deliver the General Social Survey on an annual ongoing basis for insights on the wellbeing of Australians, with the first tranche of data available from 2026.
The data collected by the expanded survey will be used to inform the Measuring What Matters dashboard, by increasing the number of metrics updated annually.
More frequent data will strengthen the capacity of the Measuring What Matters Framework to improve wellbeing and inform policy change.
The second comprehensive statement on wellbeing, due to be released in 2026, will examine trends in more depth to better reflect on how we are tracking over time, where we’re doing well and where we can do better.
The insights delivered through the dashboard and the Statement will inform government decision‑making to deliver better outcomes for Australians.
The release today represents the next step in an iterative process as we continue to consult and refine the framework based on ongoing and welcome feedback.
Measuring What Matters is about building a more inclusive, fair and equitable nation that provides more opportunities and builds a better future for all Australians.