The Australian Basic Income Lab is a research and outreach centre focused on basic income in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region. We support new thinking on basic income for a changing world.
Interest in basic income has grown in response to concerns about poverty, precarious work, artificial intelligence, and social inequality. Pilots, policy debates, and natural experiments around the world have drawn researchers, institutions, and civil society organisations into the conversation — including the OECD, World Bank, ILO and various university-based centres and think tanks.
The Australian Basic Income Lab works with academics, civil society organisations, governments, unions, and businesses to support interdisciplinary research and informed public debate on the role of basic income in enhancing social and economic security. We host seminars, workshops and public events, featuring local and international researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
The Australian Basic Income Lab is a collaboration between researchers at The University of Queensland, University of Sydney, Macquarie University and the Australian National University.
Dr Zoe Staines - Co-Director
Dr Zoe Staines is a Senior Lecturer, ARC Future Fellow, and Director of Research in the School of Social Science at The University of Queensland. Her interdisciplinary research spans social policy, sociology, and criminology, examining gender and work, care, welfare conditionality, universal basic income, and (de)coloniality. She has published four books — including on women and basic income (Routledge, 2025) — and dozens of journal articles. Zoe is a member and mentor (Asia Pacific Region) with the International Association for Feminist Economics, a lifetime member of the Basic Income Earth Network, and Board Member of the Council for Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences (CHASS). Before academia, she held senior research and policy roles in government and the non-profit sector.
Associate Professor Elise Klein - Co-Director
Associate Professor Elise Klein is an Associate Professor of Public Policy at the Crawford School, Australian National University. Her research focuses on development policy with a specific interest in work, redistribution, decoloniality and care. Klein has held various roles including working with the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Development and the Human Rights Committee within the United Nations General Assembly. She was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2019 and holds a Dphil in International Development from the University of Oxford. Her recent work on basic income includes: Implementing a Basic Income in Australia: Pathways Forward (Palgrave), Radical transformation or technological intervention? Two paths for universal basic income (World Development), Reparations as a Rightful Share: From Universalism to Redress in Distributive Justice (Development and Change).
Dr Troy Henderson - Co-Director
Dr Troy Henderson is a Senior Researcher at the Mental Wealth Initiative at the University of Sydney, an interdisciplinary research collaboration between the Brain and Mind Centre and the Business School. He was previously a Lecturer in Political Economy at the University of Sydney and a Research Economist at the Centre for Future Work. His PhD thesis explored Basic Income as a Policy Option for Australia. His Masters thesis examined the case for a Four-Day Workweek in Australia. He has published widely on Basic Income and labour market issues, presented at numerous Australian and international conferences, and appears regularly in the media.
Associate Professor Gareth Bryant - Chair
Associate Professor Gareth Bryant is a political economist at the University of Sydney. He is an ARC DECRA Fellow in the Department of Political Economy and economist-in-residence with the Sydney Policy Lab. Gareth researches how public policy and public finance can create more sustainable, equal and democratic economies. His research has focused on issues including climate change, higher education, housing, labour and Indigenous justice. Gareth is the author of Carbon Markets in a Climate-Changing Capitalism (Cambridge University Press, 2019).
The Australian Basic Income Lab is supported by a network of associated fellows spanning academia, government, advocacy organisations, and more.
Meet our current fellows.
The Australian Basic Income Lab publishes across academic platforms, as well as beyond. Our aim is to contribute to rigorous scholarship, as well as public discourse and thinking, around the possibilities of universal basic income for Australia, the Asia-Pacific region, and beyond.
Stay up to date with our work by browsing our latest academic publications and exploring our recent news and media appearances.
The Australian Basic Income Lab hosts seminars, workshops and public events, featuring local and international researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
Find out about our latest activities, including upcoming and past events.
Contact us
Please read more and contact us at www.ausbasicincome.org