We asked the CEOs and directors of some of Australia’s leading development NGOs about what they think the new government’s aid priorities should be. Here are their answers.

1. NGO WISH LIST
What should the new
government’s top three
priorities be for the
program?

2. We asked the CEOs and directors of
some of Australia’s leading development
NGOs about what they think the new
government’s aid priorities should be.
Here are their answers.

3. 1. Restore predictability in the
aid program by committing
to a dependable, consistent
trajectory to 0.5 percent of GNI.
2. Restore the integrity of the
aid program by ending the
diversion of aid funds to asylum
seeker costs.
3. Strengthen the effectiveness
of the aid program by investing
in proven poverty alleviation
strategies.

4. 1. Grow the aid budget to reach
0.5 percent of national income
by 2016-17, and work with
the opposition to establish a
bipartisan timetable to reach 0.7
percent by 2020.
2. Deliver a well-planned and
effective aid program. Focus
on the link between gender and
poverty, and ensure Australian aid
supports people living in poverty
in developing countries.
3. Increase aid directed to food
security and support small-
holder farmers in poor countries,
especially women, so they are
better able to feed themselves and
their communities.

5. 1. Set an ambitious and concrete
timetabled commitment to scale
up our aid contributions to the
0.7 percent target.
2. Emphasize reducing poverty
and saving lives as the organizing
framework for effective spending
of Australian aid.
3. Increase the transparency and
predictability of our development
spending.

6. 1. Increase aid in predictable
steps each year to reach the
long-promised target of 0.5
percent of GNI.
2. Seek to unlock the social and
economic power of women and
girls with a strong focus on the
education and empowerment of
girls in our region.
3. Reweight toward greater use
of the community sector for
the delivery of Australia’s aid
program.

7. Children and vulnerable groups
need to be at the heart of the
aid program. Australia has made
great steps in placing children
on the development agenda
but if we’re going to break the
structures which trap people in
poverty we need to refocus our
long-term development efforts to
deliver outcomes for children.

8. 1. Meet the long-standing
bipartisan promise to give just 50
cents in every $100 to help end
extreme poverty. Restore the aid
commitment to 0.5 percent GNI.
2. Focus on lagging MDGs,
especially maternal health and
sanitation.
3. Focus on the poorest of the
poor in the Asia-Pacific region.

9. 1. Do more to ensure aid is
accountable and predictable.
2. Support Australian aid
charities and leverage their
public backing.
3. Boost programs that have a
real impact on the poorest.

10. 1. Fulfill the bipartisan commitment
to increase the foreign aid budget
to 0.5 percent of GNI and set a
timeline to achieve the target.
Ensure that the aid budget is not
diverted to domestic spending.
2. Avoid the temptation to follow
the historic practice of politicizing
aid in a way that chops, changes,
and reinvents the aid program
every time government changes.
3. Strategically prioritize climate
financing as an important part of
the aid budget to help address the
impact of climate change on poor
communities around the world.

11. What are the prospects for Australian
aid under the new government? Find
out at http://ow.ly/oGJ0K