Inside Labor’s 2025 campaign review

The Australian Labor Party has released its internal review of the 2025 federal election campaign. For a document reflecting on an historic win of 94 seats, it is notably focused on what comes next. It offers a useful window into how the party reads its mandate and, more importantly, how seriously it takes the gap between announcement and delivery.

The strategic frame: a choice, not a referendum

Labor’s central strategic call was to frame the election as a forward-looking choice between two competing visions, rather than a referendum on the government’s first term. That was a deliberate counter to the Coalition’s “are you better off than three years ago?” line. The review argues the approach worked, but it also treats the mandate as conditional.

The electorate has accepted that Labor can deliver. The test before 2028 is whether Labor can deliver at scale. For a government whose parliamentary majority sits alongside a historically soft primary vote, that risk is not theoretical.

Delivery as credibility: brick-and-mortar matters

One of the more important themes in the review is the link between visible delivery and political permission. The document notes Labor’s ability to point to operational Medicare Urgent Care Clinics during the campaign was pivotal in making further health commitments credible. Voters could see something tangible, locally, and connect it to the next promise.

The same logic runs through the staged delivery of cost-of-living measures across the first term. Delivery created familiarity, and familiarity made new commitments easier to sell.

The post-election research the review cites reinforces this. Increasing bulk billing and lowering PBS medicine prices polled strongest (72% support each), followed by tax cuts (59%).

For stakeholders, the lesson is straightforward. If you want constructive engagement with the Albanese Government, show how your proposal turns into a concrete outcome that can be pointed to, visited, opened, staffed or measured. With around 30 months before the next verdict, timelines matter.

Policy timing: influence happens early

The review is also candid about when policy influence actually lands. Detailed announcements early in the term gave candidates material to campaign on, built awareness over time, and reduced vulnerability to late-breaking scare campaigns.

In practice, that means proposals pitched close to an election are less likely to get traction, especially if they require long lead times or create delivery risk. Governments running against the clock prioritise initiatives that can show results within the cycle. If you want to shape policy this term, you engage now, not in 2027.

“No seat is safe” and the local reality

The review’s line that “no seat is a safe seat” is one of its sharper conclusions. The Liberal primary vote collapse has changed the competitive map, and independents are now finishing second in seats Labor once treated as comfortable. The review pushes sustained community engagement across the term, with close monitoring of minor parties and three-cornered contests.

It also draws a lesson from an unexpected example. The Nationals’ result in Bendigo ran against the broader Coalition trend, with a campaign built around the candidate’s personal story and local issues rather than the national pitch. The takeaway is familiar but still important: local campaigns can outperform national conditions. For Labor, that cuts both ways.

Organisational realities: retention, not recruitment

Even with a strong result, the review flags internal challenges. Volunteer recruitment was reportedly higher than in previous campaigns, but branch membership is not growing because attrition remains high. The issue is not getting people in the door; it is keeping them there. The review’s answer is to modernise the membership experience and reduce the friction that pushes people out.

AI and the information environment

The review spends real time on AI and disinformation, warning that 2028 could mark a step change in sophistication. The point is not just viral fakes, but scale: AI reduces the cost of producing enormous volumes of slightly varied content that is harder to detect and harder to rebut.

The review recommends monitoring AI use in political communications, along with staff training and clear internal protocols for AI tools across analysis, content generation and workflow.

For organisations involved in advocacy, this should change how you think about communications. Credibility and authenticity will matter more as the environment fills up with manufactured content. Third-party validation, local voices and real-world proof points will carry more weight than polished messaging.

What this means for clients

Read as a whole, the 2025 ALP Campaign Review shows a government that understands the fragility behind its majority. It is not simply competing with the Coalition; it is competing with expectations, and expectations are set by results.

A few practical implications follow.

For communications:

Lead with outcomes, not process. What gets built, delivered, opened, staffed or changed matters more than funding lines and frameworks.
Make it local. MPs are under pressure to demonstrate electorate-level wins, so connect policy to local delivery, services and jobs.
Work early. Labor’s approach relied on building familiarity over time, and stakeholders looking for influence should lay groundwork now, not late in the cycle.
Signal authenticity. In an AI-saturated environment, credible third parties and community voices will land harder than campaign-style polish.

For government relations:

Proposals aligned to visible delivery against core priorities (cost of living, housing, healthcare, the energy transition) will find a more receptive audience. Ideas with long lead times or uncertain pathways will face tougher questions. MPs need local proof points they can take home to their electorates, and the window for meaningful influence is earlier in the term, not the final stretch before 2028.

Every month without runs on the board brings the government closer to electoral judgement. The review’s underlying message is simple: show how you help deliver, or accept that you may be deprioritised.

The full ALP Campaign Review is available on the ALP website: https://alp.org.au/2025_campaign_review