The Framework sets out the factors that are important to Australians’ individual and collective wellbeing across all phases of life in five broad themes - healthy, secure, sustainable, cohesive and prosperous.
All the themes are important, and success in one, can influence success in the others. For example, maximising the health of Australians will be helped by increasing prosperity, cohesion and promoting a sustainable environment.
Inclusion, equity and fairness are cross-cutting dimensions of the Framework. This reflects the need to ensure that wellbeing outcomes are fairly shared amongst the population. The alternative – high inequality and entrenched disadvantage – affects social cohesion and may hinder economic growth by limiting access to education and perpetuating disadvantage within communities and across generations.
The Framework consists of 50 indicators of the current status and long-term trends in Australian wellbeing, including a self-reported life satisfaction indicator, which is relevant to all themes. While the indicators are organised according to the wellbeing themes in the Framework, they can often be relevant to more than one theme.
The richness of what matters to Australians extends beyond the 50 indicators, and some things that matter do not always have quality and timely metrics. However, the more indicators that are included in the Framework, the harder it becomes to provide an understandable picture of our economy and society. Because of this, the Framework has been designed to be high level and concise to ensure that it is accessible and meaningful to as many people as possible.
The Framework does not rank or weight wellbeing themes, dimensions or indicators.