The Revenue Summit is a special initiative of The Australia Institute that discussed the need to increase public spending to strengthen our economy and society, and how to raise public revenue efficiently and equitably.

Tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society, but in contemporary Australia, we rarely ask how much civilisation we would like to buy and what the best new ways way to fund any increase in civilisation might be.

We need to talk about revenue. After decades of spending cuts, efficiency dividends and budget emergencies it is time to confront the fact that many of Australia’s problems, both real and imagined, flow directly from the fact that we have chosen to be one of the lowest taxed countries in the developed world.

In Australia today the term ‘tax reform’ is too often used to conceal more demands for more tax cuts. However, it is possible to reform the tax system in a multitude of ways that would result in more tax revenue, a simpler tax system, and stronger public finances.

This historic event saw some of Australia’s leading experts discuss the need to increase public spending in order to strengthen our economy and our society, as well as new ways to efficiently and equitably increase public revenue in ways that will strengthen both our public finances and our future economy.

Stakeholders from across health, education and infrastructure service provision presented their assessment of our current public services, and presented their vision for what public services Australia could provide in the future.

Economists and taxation experts discussed revenue-raising options to meet our public spending needs, including increasing current taxes, introducing new taxes, and increasing public debt to fund public services.