What will ANDI do?

Gather Australians' views

An extraordinarily diverse range of Australia’s largest non-government organisations, church and community groups have come together to kickstart ANDI. Consultation and information gathering will occur through consultation with our members’ networks, a series of local government workshops and state and national surveys. An interactive website will be a further platform for promoting community participation.

Develop new progress measures

In exploring the use of an index approach to measuring progress, we seek to provide an extension to purely economic measures, such as the GDP, Consumer Price Index and others which tend to dominate national discussion. ANDI will be based on national data and research and influenced by the preferences of Australians, and the expert advice and knowledge of Australian and international statisticians.

Provide an interactive website and national resource

The ANDI website will be more than just a clearing house for research reports and statistical data — it will provide an opportunity for people to find wellbeing and progressrelated information relevant to their interests. It will allow for comparison of wellbeing by population group and locality.

The website’s interactivity will serve two purposes. First, it will allow people to view the full data sets and to mould their own versions of progress based on their views.

Secondly, it will provide a valuable source of feedback from people who use the ANDI website about what they consider to be important in relation to wellbeing. This may be done through direct written feedback, but will also be implied through the preferences of users as they shape their own ANDI based on their own prioritisations of wellbeing. This may lead  to more localised breakdowns of information — potentially valuable for local government. Over time, information collected will be used as an input into considerations about ongoing research and data collection and even the index itself.

There is also the potential for the ANDI website to provide the space to connect like-minded individuals. It will also inform a more balanced debate about social progress.