Policy Meeting

Where: Zoom

When: 2026-01-14T08:00:00.000Z

Duration: 2 hours

Description: Basic Income Australia members are invited to take part in the first policy-focused meeting of 2026, kicking off a structured and democratic review of BIA’s Universal Basic Income (UBI) policy. This session will introduce and discuss proposed amendments to BIA’s current policy, prepared by member Brian Donaghy (author of the book A Basic Income for Australia: A Fair Go for All), of alongside the existing BIA policy framework. The aim is not to finalise a new policy in one meeting, but to identify the key questions, points of agreement, and areas requiring deeper discussion, so members can help shape the process and priorities for the year ahead. The discussion will focus on high-level principles and design choices, including questions such as: • Should a Basic Income be universal from birth, and if so, how? • What does it mean for a UBI to be truly universal rather than targeted? • How should UBI interact with the tax system and existing welfare arrangements? • Should UBI be independent of government discretion once legislated? • What role, if any, should Centrelink and the ATO play under a mature UBI system? • How should affordability, simplicity, and political durability be balanced? Rather than debating every technical detail, this session is designed to: • Provide a plain-language overview of the proposed amendments and how they differ from the current BIA policy • Gather member views on which components matter most, and which may be easiest or hardest to resolve • Help shape a clear agenda, timeline, and voting process for future policy meetings in 2026 This meeting is especially suited to members who are interested in policy design, governance, and the long-term credibility of UBI as a reform that can attract broad public and political support. BIA’s current policy: https://basicincomeaustralia.com/policy/ For proposed policy amendments (discussion paper) email Emma Hansma at ehansma@basicincomeaustralia.com and she’ll send it to you! All members are welcome. You do not need to agree with the proposed amendments to participate, this is a space for respectful, structured discussion to help guide BIA’s collective decision-making..