The Government's 'fabulous' budget reveals a deeper problem

A study of almost 2000 young Australians published this year in the Lancet found 29 per cent of males and 54 per cent females reported common mental disorders such as depression and anxiety at least once during adolescence. Almost 60 per cent of these people went on to report a further episode as a young adult. Overall, 50 per cent of males and 70 per cent of females experienced one or more episodes of mental disorders by age 30.

The proportions would be about the same, and higher, if all mental disorders had been included in the survey. This is not just reflecting the emotional roller-coaster of adolescence: other research shows the average duration of adolescent depression is 26 weeks. In other words, our way of life is normalising mental illness, making it a majority experience.

We need to be clear about what material progress based on economic growth means. Over more than 200 years, it has made Australians, on average and in real terms, many times richer, and our lives, on average, much longer.

However, the extra dollars and years of life have been unevenly distributed: income inequality is now growing and disadvantage is becoming deeper and more entrenched. Increased wealth is not the only factor behind increased health and wellbeing: greater knowledge, better education and institutional reforms have also contributed. Medical advances may now be offsetting adverse health impacts of changing social conditions.

Beyond these issues, material progress has created an 'existential deficit', related to how and where we find meaning in life, which is central to wellbeing. Meaning has become more materialistic and individualised, reducing social cohesion, confidence, trust and stability, and leaving more of us personally vulnerable and isolated.

If we are to have any chance of securing our future, we need to see a concerted effort to shift economic activity from private consumption for shorter-term gratification to public investment for long-term, sustainable development.

The largely overlooked message of the budget is that political priorities and scientific understandings of our situation are moving in opposite directions.