Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Pandanus Petter, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, School of Politics and International Relations, Australian National University
This time last year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was jubilant. Having just won 94 of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives, Labor had its best result in terms of seats since 1943.
In his victory speech, Albanese said:
[…] I know there is still much more to do to help people under pressure. That is why it means so much that in these uncertain times, the people of Australia have placed their trust in Labor once again.
The times would only go on to become more uncertain. The war in Iran, the Bondi terror attack and the rise of One Nation’s vote have all thrown up new issues for the government (and the country) to deal with in the past 12 months.
So what has the government achieved in the past year? How has it performed on its key election promises and the issues most important to people?
What mattered most to voters?
Despite its historic outcome, the 2025 election was something of a lukewarm endorsement. Labor’s primary vote share was around 35%, only a few points higher than the Liberal-National Coalition under Peter Dutton.
Polling before the election suggested the issues on people’s minds were cost of living (57%) and managing the economy (22%), as well as the quality of healthcare (31%), crime (23%) and climate change (23%).
After the election, when voters were asked to name their most important issues, economic concerns still dominated, expressed as anxiety about cost of living (36%), housing affordability (8%), taxation (10%) or economic management (12%). Climate change and the environment were still top of mind for 17% of people.
Immigration, which has now become more important, was only of primary importance to 6% of people.
Cost of living and the environment
Labor made a lot of promises during the campaign – around 63, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office. This analysis will look primarily at the biggest of those.
Many were oriented toward the concerns people were expressing, especially around the economy. For the first time since 1987, voters believed Labor would make the better economic managers, showing their messaging was well targeted.
On cost of living, progress is visible, though mixed.
With relatively high inflation and interest rates, cost of living was and is an issue that cuts across many policy areas. The war in Iran’s effects on fuel prices have made people’s lives and the government’s job harder since 2025.
In terms of directly putting money in people’s pockets, Labor promised tax cuts over the next few years, which are in train. Modest rebates to energy bills continued until the end of 2025.
On the environment, the government passed previously stalled legislation to create a national Environment Protection Agency and invest more heavily in conservation. These efforts are ongoing, and don’t go far enough for environment groups.
Education, wages and childcare
On education costs, Labor enacted a 20% reduction of students’ HECS debts on June 1. Similarly, 100,000 free places in vocational education per year to train more builders and nurses were made permanent.
Less directly, alongside unions, Labor lobbied the Fair Work Commission to increase the minimum wage beyond inflation. Labor also provided funding to age care providers to pay higher wages and leave entitlements as determined by the commission.
For eligible families, promised subsidies for childcare began in January 2026.
Health
Albanese spent much of the 2025 campaign focused on health, waving his Medicare card around at every opportunity.
Labor promised, and has acted, to deliver policies such as cheaper medicines, improved access to telehealth, and free mental health support.
The government’s signature health promise was improved access to bulk-billed GP visits, aiming for 90% to be bulk-billed by 2030. As out-of-pocket costs for primary care continue to rise, the government made little progress after the election, with rates staying around 72%.
From November 1, however, expanded access to incentives for GPs began to flow, with an uptick to 81% by January 2026.
Whether these incentives are sufficient to equitably meet the public’s needs has been questioned by the sector.
Funding negotiations with state governments to improve health service provision have recently been concluded, but are always fraught. Although not a major election issue, upcoming reforms to the NDIS will place extra strain on this relationship.
Read more: Tightened eligibility and cuts to plans: what the NDIS changes mean for participants
Housing
Access to affordable housing has been hotly debated since COVID and will require sustained action at all levels of government to address.
The rise of One Nation’s vote throughout 2025 and 2026, and increased focus on social cohesion since Bondi, have crossed over into this debate. Playing to the exaggerated link between immigration and housing affordability, the government promised to restrict foreign purchases for two years during the election campaign.
Albanese also promised assistance for first home buyers through government-backed 5% deposits and loans. These have seen some uptake, though house prices have risen higher for eligible properties in major cities, limiting their usefulness.
Promises were also made about investment in infrastructure to enable delivery of more affordable housing and continue investment in social housing. Progress is slow. The federal government is working to reverse decades of underinvestment by delivering around 55,000 new low-income homes by 2030.
But unmet need (and their own target) is much higher, and long-term commitment is not guaranteed. During the 2025 campaign Albanese promised Labor wasn’t planning to revisit changes to tax settings such as capital gains and negative gearing floated in the 2019 campaign.
However, he has recently been trying to draw a link between intergenerational inequity as a threat to social cohesion and moves to water down these policies.
In this way, anxiety about cherished but debated Australian values may be the impetus for unexpected economic reforms.
Overall, the Albanese government has been working to fulfil its modest promises and address people’s pressing concerns.
However, whether the government can continue to do so, and whether what it promised to do is enough, is unclear.
Australians are persistently anxious about the present, and pessimistic about the future. The government will need to work hard to persuade people it’s doing enough. It has two years until the next election to do so.
– ref. A year on from the election, what has the Albanese government achieved? – https://theconversation.com/a-year-on-from-the-election-what-has-the-albanese-government-achieved-281536