SDG 10 - Reduce Inequalities
Below are all Australian news items from all ESG Snapshot issues that are relevant to SDG 10 (reduce inequalities), listed with most recent items appearing first.
Week ending 24 May 2026
SDG 10 activity this week centred on cost-of-living pressure, labour-market softening and renewed debate over structural fairness in Australia’s economic settings. The labour market showed emerging slack, with unemployment rising and jobs contracting, while tax reform debate reopened around housing, windfall gains and long-term revenue sustainability. Consumer signals also pointed to households tightening spending faster than headline growth suggests. The strongest signal is that inequality risks are becoming more operational for business and policymakers: weaker labour demand, housing affordability, tax design and consumer stress are all shaping market conditions and social resilience. Proof points
• Labour market: Australian unemployment rose to 4.5% as jobs contracted by around 19,000, signalling faster-than-expected labour market slack.
• Tax reform: Australia’s structural tax debate reopened, with proposals including stamp duty reform and treatment of windfall profits.
• Consumer pressure: Walmart’s results signalled consumers are tightening faster than topline growth implies.
Week ending 17 May 2026
This week’s SDG 10 signals matter for business because inequality is showing up through affordability, tax settings, regional gaps, social disclosure and land rights. Budget reforms to housing, capital gains tax, trusts and income-splitting arrangements point to a policy shift toward asset and wealth distribution, with implications for investors, SMEs, employees and younger households. Housing affordability remains the clearest business issue: if supply and infrastructure do not improve, employers will keep facing workforce access and retention pressures. Regional Australia adds another inequality lens, with housing, services and infrastructure constraints affecting labour markets and project delivery outside major cities. Investor interest in social disclosures and the UN’s “Beyond GDP” work also suggest inequality and wellbeing are becoming more visible in reporting and decision-making. For business, the key question is whether inequality risks are being assessed across workforce affordability, customer vulnerability, regional operations, tax exposure, First Nations engagement and social disclosure.
Issue 95, 16 June 2025
Transcript is now available of the second hearing of a parliamentary committee inquiry into modern slavery in regional NSW.
Issue 94, 2 June 2025
A parliamentary committee inquiry into modern slavery risks in regional NSW has scheduled hearings for today and 19 June.
Issue 93, 26 May 2025
The Office of the NSW Anti-Slavery Commissioner has released the first of three reports examining modern slavery risks in the procurement of electric
vehicles and EV charging infrastructure by NSW government agencies.
The initial report aims to provide a "baseline understanding" of relevant legislation and principles, and describes sources of information about risks in EV and charging infrastructure supply chains.
It also flags the Commissioner's power to create codes of practice, and notes that a code of practice on managing modern slavery risks in the renewables sector is being developed in conjunction with the Clean Energy Council.
A draft code will be released for public comment "in coming months", the report says.
The second report will focus on bus procurement, and the this will provide "a broader analysis of government agencies' modern slavery risk management practices in EV procurements.
Issue 90, 5 May 2025
Transcript is now available from a 30 April hearing conducted by a parliamentary committee inquiry into modern slavery risks experienced by temporary migrant workers in rural and regional NSW.
Witnesses included the NSW Anti-slavery Commissioner, the Australian Anti-slavery Commissioner, and the UN Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.
Issue 85, 24 March 2025
The NSW government has tabled its response to a committee review of the Modern Slavery Act.
For the most part it has rejected the committee's recommendations, including the recommendations to give the state's Anti-Slavery Commissioner greater information-gathering and sanctioning powers.
Issue 13, 18 September 2023
The NSW Parliament's Modern Slavery Committee has instigated a review of the state's Modern Slavery Act.
The committee will also examine the Ethical Clothing Extended Scheme and its potential to mitigate the risks of modern slavery in the NSW clothing manufacturing industry.