Australia: mapping the landscape of long-term governance

What Foundations for Tomorrow did

In 2026, Foundations for Tomorrow, in partnership with the School of International Futures (SOIF) and Wellbeing Economy Alliance Australia, published Beyond the Election Cycle, a national research programme mapping the landscape of long-term governance in Australia. The team mapped 183 organisations and initiatives, conducted 31 expert interviews, and assessed the country's long-term governance maturity using SOIF's Foresight Governance Prism.

How it Delivered

The research gave a fragmented movement a shared picture of itself. It identified five patterns holding Australia back, including political coding, where accumulated policy branding makes it hard to build ownership across political traditions, and futures washing, where long-term language becomes easier to adopt than the reforms needed to give it effect. It then set out six activation pathways, from broadening the civic and political vocabulary to stabilising the participatory infrastructure that already exists. The full report and annex are free to access.

What Made it Work?

The starting insight is encouraging: Australia has more infrastructure for long-term governance than it gives itself credit for. The challenge is activation, extending and cohering what exists into a nationally recognisable approach. By naming the obstacles honestly, including the movement's own fragmentation, the research turned a diffuse field into something that can organise, speak with a common vocabulary and act together.

Future Generations Takeaway

Movements for future generations sometimes assume they must build from scratch. Foundations for Tomorrow's mapping shows the value of first taking stock: finding and celebrating the allies, identifying institutions and practices already in place, and asking what would connect them. Keeping the future open sometimes starts with drawing the map.