2025 Year in Review
Australia is at an important moment, facing growing pressures around social cohesion, housing, climate and cost of living that can’t be solved with short-term fixes alone. These challenges call for long-term thinking, shared responsibility and leadership that keeps future generations in mind.
In response, our work this year focused on strengthening the foundations for lasting reform, building relationships, shared understanding and the civic infrastructure needed to support a National Conversation on Australia’s future.
Looking ahead, our priority is clear: building the civic and political mandate for long-term change to take hold. We’re grateful to our partners and community for walking alongside us as we continue laying the foundations for a fairer future.
Key Achievements
Fulfilling a three-year strategic vision with the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill, earning public commendation from MPs for spearheading a shift beyond election cycles, catalysing widespread awareness of the future generations agenda, and confirming strong public appetite through overwhelmingly positive media and community response.
Launched our Local Action Strategy, activating tailored state and territory initiatives to advance future generations policy and supporting political champions across five Australian jurisdictions.
Launched public campaign, For Our Future to translate legislative momentum into public action, pairing bold parliamentary activation with the concept of Policrastination to name and challenge short-termism, shift public discourse, and strengthen the social mandate for long-term, intergenerational governance.
Internationally recognised as Finalist for the Dubai Foresight Awards & invited to return to the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Geneva.
Launch of Discussion Paper on National Conversation to Build the Australia We Want bringing together 29 experts and organisations behind a credible, inclusive model for a National Conversation, addressing Australia’s alignment gap and laying the groundwork for a trusted process to shape long-term national direction.
Net Promoter Score of +73.68 demonstrating our stakeholder trust, credibility and value to collaborators.
Research & Roadmaps
Portraits of Our Future
Portraits of Our Future is an imaginative research and storytelling project that captures the lived experiences of everyday Australians to show how today’s policy choices shape tomorrow’s opportunities, addressing a critical gap in long-term governance. In 2025, FFT completed 15 portraits spanning generations, geographies, cultures and life experiences, treating participants not as policy subjects but as contributors to a shared inquiry into our collective future. Using Foundations for Tomorrow’s Future Generations Storylining Analysis, each portrait links lived experience to policy implications by exploring two potential futures per theme and identifying long-term, actionable pathways, with the project delivered in partnership with VicHealth.
National Conversation Discussion Paper
Following the 2025 federal election, FFT identified that the key barrier to long-term reform was not ambition but the absence of a trusted, shared process to build legitimacy and align national direction. In response, we led a 12-week strategic collaboration with 29 experts and organisations to design a credible, inclusive model for a National Conversation, unifying a fragmented landscape and producing a clear vision, logic and engagement framework outlined in the discussion paper Building the Australia We Want (V1), launched in November 2025 with cross-bench and bipartisan leaders. Ongoing engagement strengthened the Governance Model and Shared Inquiry Framework, informing Version 2 released in December 2025, with a final report due in early 2026 to support scale and adoption.
Awareness & Dialogue
Parliamentary Group for Future Generations
The Australian Parliamentary Group for Future Generations, established in 2022, is a multi-partisan platform working to embed long-term thinking and intergenerational fairness at the core of Australian governance by aligning parliamentary and cross-sector efforts around future generations and holistic wellbeing. In February 2025, co-chairs Dr Sophie Scamps MP and Bridget Archer MP introduced the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill, and the Group was subsequently re-established in the 48th Parliament under the leadership of Ms Ash Ambihaipahar MP, Senator Maria Kovacic and Dr Sophie Scamps MP. Despite a doubling of the membership threshold, Foundations for Tomorrow supported the Group to meet the new requirements within three weeks, building a membership of 28 MPs and Senators.
Engagements of Impact
FFT attended and presented at a number of high profile engagements throughout 2025 including; National Press Club, Wellbeing Forum, Dubai Future Forum, Social Value Summit, Shared Value Conference, Australian Council for Educational Leaders National Conference 2025, International Life Course Conference, Equity Summit and Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters.
Activation & Mobilisation
Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill
In February 2025, we successfully saw the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill and launched the For Our Future Campaign, the recommendations from which provided the structural backbone for the Bill. MPs publicly commended the FFT team for our efforts in advancing the push to “think beyond election cycles and financial quarters”, and FFT was also specifically acknowledged for ‘spearheading’ the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill (2025). The introduction of the Bill was a catalyst for significant awareness raising of the future generation's agenda and served as an invaluable litmus test for public appetite for this work. The overwhelmingly positive response and media coverage indicates that there is notable public appetite for this work.
For Our Future Campaign
The For Our Future campaign harnessed momentum from the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill to deliver a month of action focused on mobilising public and political support for long-term reform. Key activations included the ‘Ask for the Bill’ action at Parliament House, featuring a six-foot printed bill highlighting the costs future generations bear from short-term policymaking, and the launch of Policrastination, the invention of a new word designed to name, expose and challenge Australia’s culture of short-termism. Co-led with General Strategic and supported by multipartisan allies, the campaign reflects FFT’s belief that cultural change is essential for systems change, with Policrastination embedding long-term, intergenerational thinking into public discourse and strengthening the social mandate for reform.
Local Action
In 2025, we launched our Local Action initiatives, activating State and Territory efforts to advance future generations policy. We are now making active contributions to supporting political champions across five Australian States and Territories.
Leveraging International Action
In 2025, we supported efforts in Aotearoa New Zealand to advance future generations wellbeing, contributing to the launch of the Our Tomorrow Together campaign and a national discussion document that cited FFT as a leader in this work. FFT Managing Director Taylor Hawkins continued serving on the Executive Leadership Team of the Network of Institutions for Future Generations, strengthening our connection to global best practice. We were also proud to contribute to the development of the European Commission’s Intergenerational Fairness Strategy, helping shape how future generations are considered in policymaking across the EU.
Intergenerational Fairness Coalition
The Intergenerational Fairness Coalition (IFC) is a collective of Australian organisations that recognise the need for increased long-term thinking in Australian policymaking, and are committed to advancing institutional reforms and safeguards wellbeing across generations. FFT has proudly served as the Chair and convenor of the IFC since its inception in 2024.
In 2025, the IFC grew in maturity, scale and impact through the development of robust governance infrastructure, collaborative development of the IFC charter and principles and FFT designed and launched a website to help increase visibility and grow the IFC. Throughout 2025, membership increased from 26 to 33.
Thank You
As we close another impactful year, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the incredible supporters, partners, and team members who have made FFT's work possible.