The answer to tough economic times is collective action

My first instinct was to dismiss him, because his anger was aimed at migrants, governments, and welfare payments to the marginalised. But there’s more to this story. 

There are plenty of theories about why we’ve become so angry, and about the roles played by social media and technology. But one issue underpins them all: our money doesn’t go as far as it used to. Food, transport and medicine – everything seems to cost more. Rich or poor, we all know it. And the consequences extend well beyond our economy. 

On paper, Australia is doing fine. The economy grew by 2.1 per cent in the past 12 months, compared with 1.2 per cent in the UK. Unemployment is 4.7 per cent. We’re not in recession (yet), and interest rates are well below the 17% of the early 1990s even with this week’s rises. 

Yet consumer confidence is at a 30-year low, and most people say they were better off five years ago.  

Importantly, the economic pain isn’t shared evenly. 

Older wealthy Australians with high home equity and savings see rising prices as an inconvenience rather than a crisis. But renters, people on low or fixed incomes, and people relying on government payments have no wealth buffer. Many young people can’t cover their day-to-day costs, let alone hope to save enough to own a home. While some of the big businesses are posting record profits, most small businesses are feeling the squeeze. The divide in our experience of cost-of-living increases runs through our geography too: city versus country, wealthy suburbs versus poorer areas. 

So in many ways, the angry man is right. Most of us are worse off. Adjusted for inflation, wages are back at 2011 levels, but we’re paying 2026 prices. And housing, among other essentials, is much less affordable. 

In our sector, cost-of-living increases hit charities and NFPs in many ways. Just keeping the doors open is a struggle, which leaves little to invest in digital technology, AI, staff training and development, energy transition or new infrastructure.  

Donations get harder to win as consumer confidence and real disposable income fall. Governments are looking for cuts, not new spending. And demand for essential services keeps climbing as needs grow in our communities. 

The rising inequality across our communities feeds a level of distrust which can make working with marginalised communities even harder. 

Politics offers no easy fix. Cutting back on government spending is always popular, until the cuts actually happen, and then they’re not. A good recent example is what happened when the federal government chose to reduce government-funded welfare for the rich through budget changes to tax concessions on negative gearing, capital gains and family trusts. The righteous outcry of those with family trusts and property investments continues to fuel well-resourced national campaigns against the government.  

Higher taxes are not an easy solution. Any government push for increased taxes would create an unmissable political target for its opponents (I personally favour a targeted and limited estate duties tax on the super-rich).  

The current economic squeeze makes charities and NFPs more important than ever. Despite facing their own pressures, charities and NFPs stand between Australians’ justified frustration and the unravelling of social cohesion. 

As Demographics Group co-founder Simon Kuestenmacher wrote earlier this year in InDaily, “A nation’s most important infrastructure isn’t just roads and rail, it’s the invisible network of trust that allows strangers to cooperate and feel as part of the same nation. And unlike highways, that infrastructure grows every time people actually meet and work together on eye level.” 

We can’t dismiss the anger or the push for radical change in a society that no longer feels fair. What we can do is act collectively as a sector through groups like the Community Council for Australia and other peak bodies to provide options for increasing hope, understanding and opportunity.  

Most importantly, we can make sure the answer to inequality isn’t blaming marginalised “others”, but having the courage to work together and build a fairer Australia, the kind of Australia we all want to live in. 

David Crosbie has been CEO of the Community Council for Australia for the past decade and has spent more than a quarter of a century leading significant not-for-profit organisations, including the Mental Health Council of Australia, the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, and Odyssey House Victoria.