Progress on mental health, climate change and inequality could be formally measured under a new national wellbeing index.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers kickstarted the conversation about measuring wellbeing in his first budget last October and officials have since been figuring out what exactly should be tracked.
More than 160 organisations - from charities and environmental groups to government agencies, councils, universities, consultancy firms and housing affordability advocates - have chipped in their thoughts on what should be measured.
In its consultations so far, five key themes have emerged: prosperity, inclusion, sustainability, cohesion and health.
Within those categories, children, inequality and poverty, health, mental health, Indigenous people and environment and climate change were the top policy areas, with housing affordability, intergenerational wellbeing, community wellbeing, arts and culture, digital inclusion and volunteering also highly ranked.
Dr Chalmers said the wellbeing markers would sit alongside, not replace, traditional economic indicators such as gross domestic product.
"It's clear there's a real appetite to look at new ways that we can measure progress in our economy and measure the wellbeing of our communities and our society," he said.
At the moment, wellbeing is not distributed evenly across the nation, with research from private firm SGS Economics and Planning revealing a clear "wellbeing gap" between cities and the regions.
ACT scored the highest on overall wellbeing, followed by several inner and middle-ring suburbs in Sydney and Melbourne.
The index, which measures economic growth as well as things such as wealth, health and housing, identified regional parts of the Northern Territory as the areas with the lowest levels of wellbeing.
The government's first "measuring what matters" statement, to be released separately to the federal budget, is expected in the middle of the year.
Australian Associated Press
