Per Capita is an independent public policy think tank. We work to build a new vision for Australia based on fairness, shared prosperity and social justice.
Our office is located on the stolen lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nations, which were never ceded. We strongly support the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the call for a First Nations Voice to Parliament.
Per Capita’s research and policy prescriptions are rigorous, evidence-based and long-term in outlook. All our publications and activities are intended to deepen political, social and economic democracy, and we are focused on challenges for the next generations rather than the next election cycle.
Our approach
Our approach to public policy challenges the dominant narrative that disadvantage arises from personal fault or failure by pointing out the policy choices that have deepened inequality and proposing alternative choices that will lessen it.
Our policy analysis and recommended solutions seek to recognise the challenges, and work within the complex economic, political and social conditions, of our age, such as:
- The impact of rapid climate change and extreme weather events;
- Growing economic inequality, with increasing returns to capital and a decline in returns to labour;
- The growing difficulty of accessing good jobs, adequate income support and secure housing; and
- The negative effects of privatisation and the deliberate shrinking of essential public services.
In doing so, we strive to incorporate new thinking in social science and economics, innovative ways of working with data, and effective evaluation tools to measure outcomes. We also engage actively with organisations across society, including the union movement, civil society, the community sector, academia, business, government and the public service, and social change movements.
In all our work, we seek to understand and highlight the experiences of those who bear the brunt of the effects of policy choices that exacerbate inequality, including underpaid and exploited workers, people who can’t get a decent job, women, First Nations people, members of the LGBTQ+ community, people with disability and their carers, migrants and refugees, and others who are marginalised by our economic and social structures and denied their fair share of power and resources.
Our audience is the interested public, not just experts and policy makers. We engage all Australians who want to see rigorous thinking and evidence-based analysis applied to the issues facing our country’s future.
We live and work in hope and solidarity.
The democracy Per Capita works for is one that shares its knowledge, wealth and power, to ensure all its citizens can live meaningful and fulfilling lives, able to take care of each other and of our shared planet.
An independent public policy think tank working to build a new vision for Australia based on fairness, shared prosperity, and social justice.
Per Capita — Fighting inequality in Australia
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