Reliance on the country's welfare system could be eased by redistributing money in the Future Fund to Australians said a report by the Centre for Independent Studies (CIS).
The report, "The Government Giveth and the Government Taketh Away", looks at a range of strategies that would assist people from opting out of a welfare system.
One option is to transfer the money from the Future Fund to all Australians in the form of 20 million new personal savings accounts.
These accounts, called personal future fund (PFF), could be used for health or unemployment benefits.
This policy makes economic sense and is ethically justifiable, said CIS social research director Peter Saunders.
"Money transferred from the government's Future Fund into 20 million individual accounts would not be spent on immediate consumption, but would be used to replace present or future calls on government benefits or services," Saunders said.
"Assuming the value of the Future Fund reaches $60 billion by 2008, and equal share-out among all permanent residents in Australia (including children) could provide everyone with their own PFF worth around $3,000," the report said.
An additional $750 million would have to be earmarked each year after that so that newborn children could have a PFF equivalent to the value of those funds established earlier. People moving to Australia would have to establish their own PFF before taking up residence in the country.
These PFFs could be linked to people's existing superannuation accounts in order to share administrative costs. These accounts could be run by the superannuation fund's financial managers.
