For a fair economy: submission to the Economic Reform Roundtable

29 July 2025
Reichstein Foundation

News

When it comes to economic policy — arguably one of the most powerful forces shaping people’s lives — the Reichstein Foundation has long championed policy settings that deliver a fair economy for all. This includes reimagining tax as a tool for fairness, equality and collective wellbeing.

Our submission to the upcoming Economic Reform Roundtable, outlined below, suggests the need for tax reform is both urgent and increasingly visible, and endorses several recommendations made by our grant partners to address these issues.

Reichstein Foundation submission

The Reichstein Foundation welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable.

Established in 1970, the Reichstein Foundation has invested more than $22 million in people, ideas and organisations that drive social, economic and environmental justice in Australia. Over the past 55 years we have supported organisations campaigning against poverty, advocating for wealth redistribution and broadening representation in economic policy debate.

Earlier this year the Reichstein Foundation and Tripple conducted a joint grant round to support advocacy for a fairer tax system. We funded a raft of projects and organisations reimagining tax as a tool for fairness, equality and collective wellbeing. Our grant partners include the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS), Think Forward, Per Capita, the Antipoverty Centre and the Economic Media Centre. The Reichstein Foundation is also a founding member of Mannifera, a growing collective of Australian funders supporting a fairer democracy and economy, with a focus on tax and economic systems.

Productivity and Inequality

As recent research by the Productivity Commission makes clear, excessive economic inequality stifles growth and slows productivity. Economic inequality also degrades social cohesion and human rights.

The perils of inequality – including poorer health and education outcomes, higher levels of violence, threats to democracy, food insecurity and exposure to climate risk – are well known to the philanthropic sector. Many of us seek to address these issues through our grant-making.

Throughout our decades-long engagement with the causes and consequences of inequality we have seen that systemic economic reform – including tax reform – is ultimately required to redistribute wealth and support the public provision of essential goods and services.

A fair and equal tax system

In Australia, the need for tax reform is urgent and increasingly visible. Our current system places a disproportionate burden on wages while offering generous concessions for passive income generated from existing wealth. This imbalance entrenches inequality and undermines the funding base for essential services.

To address these issues, the Reichstein Foundation endorses the following recommendations made by our grant partners. The Government should:

reduce or remove tax concessions so that gains from wealth are taxed at similar rates to income from work.
investigate new or improved taxes to increase efficiency and fairness, ensuring that those with greater means contribute more to the tax burden.
reduce legal forms of tax avoidance, for example discretionary trusts, so that those with the means to develop complex tax structures don’t gain an unfair advantage.