From introducing a new tax on super, wine and sugary drinks to broadening the Medicare levy, the Australian Council of Social Service (ACOSS) has outlined how it thinks the government should collect more money to fund health and aged care and further help low-income households.
They are just a few of the more than 60 recommendations made by ACOSS ahead of the May federal budget.
Aside from major tax reforms, ACOSS again urged the government to increase the JobSeeker rate to at least $76 a day.
ACOSS chief executive Cassandra Goldie insisted many Australians could afford to pay more tax.
"Overall, Australia is a very wealthy country, and there is no excuse for us not to be doing the things that are needed to protect people and lay the foundations for a much fairer and more inclusive society."
Here is what ACOSS has in mind.
Medicare Levy changes
Health is one of the biggest costs for the government, with the figure reaching $104 billion in the October budget.
Money for healthcare is partly raised through the Medicare Levy, which is currently 2 per cent of a person's taxable income.
But ACOSS is arguing the government should make it harder for people to use measures to reduce their taxable income, which allows them to pay a smaller amount.
It wants an end to people using private trusts, negative gearing or salary sacrifice arrangements to reduce their taxable income, which would bring in an extra $1.3 billion next financial year.
Under the proposal, the levy would remain at a rate of 2 per cent of a person's income up to $120,000 but then increase to 4 per cent on income above that.
The overhaul would mean that the Medicare Levy surcharge, which can be avoided if a person pays private health care, would end.
Ms Goldie dismissed concerns that the change could lead to more people cancelling their private health insurance and put more pressure on the public health system.
"I think this question about the role of private health insurance and the rebates associated … need to be rethought; we can see that we're not getting value out of what we're doing with private health cover," she said.
"If people start to walk with their feet in a different way, we're going to be growing our revenue base to fund a really great public health care system and to really revisit how we deliver universal access."
Increase to wine taxes
In its submission, ACOSS also highlighted that overall alcohol consumption had fallen in Australia but said there had been an increase in wine consumption.
It wants the government to put in a uniform tax on wine at $56 per litre of alcohol content and ciders at $33 per litre.
The measure would raise $2.3 billion in the financial year of 2024-25, and under ACOSS' proposal, the cash would be used to cover preventive health care services, including preventing fetal alcohol syndrome.
Sugary drinks would also be taxed under ACOSS' plan, but unsweetened fruit juices would be excluded.
ACOSS said the tax would raise $500 million in its first year of operation, and the money should be spent on fitness programs for children, among other services.
Expand superannuation changes
As well as tweaks around the edges of other policies, ACOSS also called for the government to go further than the "modest" changes it proposed for taxing superannuation and introduce a 15 per cent levy on post-retirement super earnings.
"When you have got a lot of money locked up in super, when you get to the retirement phase, we don't think it's responsible for no tax to be collected on the growth in those savings in superannuation," Ms Goldie said.
Under the proposal, the levy would begin from July next year at a rate of 5 per cent and increase by 5 per cent each year until 2026.
The measure would raise $2.5 billion in the 2024-25 financial year and then continue to rise.
Ms Goldie said the money collected should only be spent on aged care to ensure there was free high-quality care in homes and at nursing homes.
"Now is the time for us to be introducing a modest 15 per cent tax on the earnings in the retirement phase, and those funds would be invested in really critical services that people need in later life," she said.
ACOSS also reiterated its calls to dump the stage three tax cuts.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers repeatedly said the government's position on the tax cuts had not changed and the government had no intention of making further changes to super.
But Ms Goldie said a debate on further changes to super and tax cuts was still needed.
"In the end, governments are there to deliver for the community," she said.
"We've got so many people in serious distress in long queues waiting to get into aged care, we're paying more and more out-of-pocket costs to access basic health care, and we've over 3 million people living in poverty in one of the wealthiest countries in the world.
"So it's a debate we'll need to have."
More Australians destined for poverty
ACOSS also wants the government to focus on providing more affordable housing, increasing welfare payments, providing energy relief to low-income households, and a higher disaster recovery payment.
The government has repeatedly said it would be cautious in how it spends money and has not flagged any major tax reforms.
But Ms Goldie said change was needed and warned politicians that if the JobSeeker rate was not increased to $76 a day, the number of Australians living in poverty would only rise.
"[The government] says that it wants to responsibly tackle the cost of living crisis and so we are saying you need to invest in lifting up the incomes of people who are on the very lowest income," she said.
"We've got two-thirds of people on JobSeeker now who are reporting going without food and skipping meals because they cannot afford them.
"It's unforgivable that we continue to allow this to happen in the wealthiest country in the world on some measures."
