Australia’s social cohesion troubles can be resolved by addressing inequality

Australia’s fraying social fabric is being torn apart not just by culture wars or extremism, but by deepening inequality that no royal commission can eradicate, writes Dr Bronwyn Kelly.

PRIME MINISTER Anthony Albanese He is rightly concerned about social cohesion in Australia. He had been right to be worried before. Bondi murders because like this Scanlon Foundation showed that Australia Social Cohesion Index It has been in decline for over 15 years.

This index was pegged at 100 based on surveys of Australians in its first year (2007), but has slowly fallen and currently stands at 78. Australia has a much less harmonious society than it did at the turn of the century.

The 2025 Scanlon survey was conducted before the Bondi murders, so we can expect next year’s survey to show no improvement in our cohesion as a society, especially if the newly released surveys are anything to go by. Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion It creates an opportunity for further divisive mobilization by the conservative news media; It is very likely that this movement will continue to pit people against each other based on ethnicity, culture and religion, rather than bringing harmony.

This does not mean that we should not have a royal commission or some other form of inquiry into antisemitism or any form of racial hatred. But we should be concerned to the extent that the Commission and the divisive media fuss it will attract will distract from what the Scanlon Foundation identifies as the underlying cause of social fractures.

As Scanlon Foundation says:

‘Financial conditions remain the most important factor associated with social cohesion.’

What they mean by this is that inequality is what pits people against each other and that each person feels less valuable than the other. And as long as there is a very significant increase in poverty and inequality (especially wealth inequality and democratic inequality) in Australia under the neoliberal form of economic governance that prevails in the 21st century, we should not expect much from the Royal Commission to address this.

While we examine little more than a few symptoms of growing collapse, we can expect the underlying causes of loss of social cohesion to be left largely untouched.

Commission’s terms of reference Proposals are being sought to strengthen social cohesion, but the focus is on countering the spread of ideologically and religiously motivated extremism in Australia, rather than addressing the inequality and social fragmentation resulting from an unjust economy that are the main cause of fractures in society.

Australia now has an unfair economy. It is possible to map the decline in our social cohesion and wellbeing in close parallel with the rise of neoliberalism in Australia. This is shown in the latest report from the Australian Commonwealth Futures Planning. State of Australia 2025 and mine last book, Public Interest Economics: the path to prosperity, security and sustainable consumption in a democratized Australian economy.

As more and more of the services vital to our well-being are privatized and equality and sufficiency in access to these basic needs diminish, social cohesion has gradually diminished.

And as the security of our incomes is affected by over-reliance on the type of economy currently favored by Anthony Albanese “private sector economy” A policy that imposes conditions on access to welfare payments, as if equality of access to the basic necessities of life were not necessary for our security and well-being, again social cohesion simultaneously diminished.

Coincidence is so obvious and persistent that it must be given the status of direct correlation and causation. Neoliberalism has led to a loss of justice in Australians’ societies, particularly in matters of opportunity, taxation and democratic equality.

The 30 years of neoliberalism’s dominance in our economic paradigms is proof that a government cannot bring people together by excluding them from society. It cannot build harmony by systematically entrenching inequality and inadequacy in access to basic services and employment opportunities.

To deprive any person of the dignity that can only be achieved through this access, to push them aside, to plunge them into poverty – just like this government is doing right now More than 3.7 million Australians – to create the basic conditions for the continued growth of social unrest, resentment, hatred and violence. You may call it simple, but income insecurity is where it all starts.

This is not something a royal commission can solve. The causes of antisemitism will not be solved by adjustments to the police and security services, as expected in the Government’s terms of reference. Police and security measures, especially those aimed at freedom of expression, are more likely to make people uneasy and rebellious than to adapt.

But the decline in social cohesion in itself is not an unsolvable or irreversible problem if a government looks at its real causes. The current economic paradigm of neoliberalism is not solely to blame for Australia’s descent into homegrown terrorism since 2019. He massacred 51 Muslims in Christchurch; But it is a momentous event that creates fertile ground for other factors of social discontent, discord and violence.

But the effects of neoliberalism can be reversed if we democratize the economy, and my new book gives Australians the practical tools they need to do this. It offers them a rationale and an easy blueprint for fundamental reforms in macroeconomic policy and governance, as well as processes they can use to democratize their economies so that their influence in economic decisions can be increased. These reforms are vital for social harmony.

It can be surmised that Anthony Albanese knew that a royal commission would be ineffective in halting the social collapse currently taking place in Australia, and this may explain and plausibly justify his initial reluctance to set up a commission. However, it is obvious that dealing only with the symptoms of social collapse cannot replace dealing with its systemic causes.

Public Interest EconomicsBut it offers something to Anthony Albanese that a royal commission cannot. His job would have been much easier if Australia had taken the last suggestion in the book to establish a Public Interest Collaboration. Learn all about this collaborative program that will enable all Australians to secure their future in Chapter 6 of the book.

Read more about Public Interest Economics Open bottom stack Here.

Dr Bronwyn Kelly is the Founder of Australian Community Future Planning (ACFP). He specializes in long-term integrated planning for Australia’s society, environment, economy and democracy, and governance systems for nation states.

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