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AFLW players will still receive less than the men despite the league pledging to double the prize money for the 2023 season.

The announcement was made on Monday by incoming AFL chief Andrew Dillon, less than two weeks until the first round of season eight.

The prize money will increase from $632,922 to $1.1 million to match the men's competition but the purse will be split across the top eight teams, as opposed to a top-four split in the men's league.

Despite the uneven split, AFLW chief Nicole Livingstone is confident the new season will be the best iteration given it comes off the back of the successful Women's World Cup.

"With the passionate enthusiasm currently in Australia around women's sport, we really do feel like there's no better time than to burst onto the scene with AFLW," she said on Monday.

"We've been here now for seven years and we really do think that this year is going to be our best season yet.

"The message is really clear, if you love women's sport, get behind AFLW.

"Go to a match or watch a match (on television) and support our players and our clubs."

The league's 18 club skippers gathered at Marvel Stadium for the launch of the new season, with 14 of them telling an AFL poll they expect the Demons to go all the way again.

In 2022's pre-season questionnaire, eight captains correctly predicted Melbourne would take out season seven.

The 2023 campaign signals something of a new era for the Demons, who have retained 28 players but will be without inaugural skipper Daisy Pearce as they bid for back-to-back titles.

Two-time All-Australian Kate Hore has enjoyed a promising start to her task of filling Pearce's boots, leading the side to two dominant wins in pre-season.

"It's not something that I thought that I would be doing in 10 or 15 years but to be here now - I'm just super pumped, very honoured and can't wait to lead the girls out this season," Hore said at the AFLW Captain's Day.

"Obviously big shoes to fill with 'Dais' but I feel so well supported.

"It's definitely not just going to be me or left up to me. Everyone's got such great strengths to bring.

"We don't really listen to the outside noise too much and we'll just keep going about our business."

AFLW's eighth season begins on September 1 with a showdown between Melbourne and Collingwood at Ikon Park.

© AAP 2023

The Albanese government has signalled it's willing to make "difficult" budget decisions, amid warnings Australia's ageing population will place a greater burden on taxpayers.

The Intergenerational Report, to be released by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Thursday, will show Australians will live longer, healthier lives.

But an ageing population will also increase demand for care and support services.

Dr Chalmers said the federal government was well aware of the big shifts in the economy and society.

"We've shown and demonstrated a willingness and an ability to make difficult decisions to put the budget on a more sustainable footing," he told reporters in Canberra.

The treasurer said the government believed the "most fertile ground" for tax reform included multinationals, high-balance superannuation compliance, cigarettes and changes to the petroleum resource rent tax.

But despite calls from the Business Council of Australia, the government had no plans or intention to raise the GST from its current rate of 10 per cent.

As well, the government had found $40 billion in savings across two budgets and banked much of its upward revisions to revenue to get the bottom line in better shape.

The report will also show that in the decade to 2020, the nation experienced the slowest productivity growth in 60 years.

Dr Chalmers said it was important for people to understand the link between making the economy more productive and lifting living standards.

The report will show life expectancy for men is forecast to rise to 87 years and for women to 89.5 years by 2062/63.

The number of people 65 and over is projected to more than double and those aged 85 and over to more than triple.

Australia's population is projected to hit 40.5 million in the same period.

The care economy could soar from about eight per cent of gross domestic product to about 15 per cent in 2062/63.

The sector will create new and meaningful jobs over the coming decades, with the major policy challenge to meet "increased demand while ensuring the sustainable delivery of quality care".

Health Services Union national president Gerard Hayes said guaranteeing the long-term sustainability of the aged care system would be best done by a Medicare-style levy.

"We need a strong baseline of care for people who have earned low and modest incomes," he said.

"Otherwise we will widen the gap between the haves and have-nots."

Dr Chalmers said the growth in the care economy will be one of the "most prominent shifts in our society over the next 40 years".

An aged care task force is already looking at the sector's financial sustainability and ensuring older Australians have access to safe and dignified care.

While net overseas migration is bouncing back after COVID-19, cumulative net overseas migration won't catch up to pre-pandemic levels until 2029/30, based on current forecasts.

The level of net overseas migration is assumed to remain fixed at 235,000 persons over the long term.

The average annual population growth rate is projected to slow to 1.1 per cent in the next 40 years, compared to 1.4 per cent in the past 40 years.

© AAP 2023

Australia's naval ships will be armed with more than 200 Tomahawk cruise missiles able to strike targets 1500 kilometres away under a $1.3 billion deal with the US.

The federal government on Monday announced it will buy a suite of high-tech missiles under a total $1.7 billion investment to boost the strike capability of the Australian Defence Force.

The purchase comes in response to the defence strategic review, which recommended the ADF develop the ability to strike targets at longer range.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy said the missiles would contribute to maintaining a strategic balance in the Indo-Pacific region.

"It provides a strong deterrence for the Australian Defence Force against any potential aggressor," he told reporters in Sydney.

"Only by deterrence can we promote strategic balance in our region and promote peace and stability as well."

The Tomahawk land attack missile has a range of up to 1500km.

The missiles would be fitted to the navy's Hobart class air warfare destroyers, with plans to later install them on the nuclear-powered submarines Australia will acquire under the AUKUS security pact with the US and UK.

Australia will be just one of three countries to acquire them, after the two chief allies.

Air Vice-Marshal Gerry van Leeuwen said Australia would also become part of the "evolution" of the missile moving forward.

"This is a significant leap forward for the Royal Australian Navy in terms of our deterrence and long-range strike capabilities," he said.

Air Vice-Marshal van Leeuwen said there were plans to start domestic manufacture of missiles by 2025.

As part of the purchase, the air force will acquire more than 60 advanced anti-radiation guided missiles - extended range (AARGM-ER) - from the US under a $431 million spend.

More than $50 million will also be invested to arm the army's Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicles with Spike anti-tank guided missiles.

The US State Department approved the sale of up to 220 Tomahawk cruise missiles to Australia earlier in March, saying it was "vital to the US national interest to assist our ally in developing and maintaining a strong and ready self-defence capability".

Defence Minister Richard Marles said Russia's invasion of Ukraine demonstrated the importance of war stocks and a domestic missile manufacturing industry.

"We are investing in the capabilities our defence force needs to hold our adversaries at risk further from our shores and keep Australians safe in the complex and uncertain world in which we live today," he said.

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce said regardless of who was in government, defence measures were critical.

"Our job, whether it's the Labor Party or the coalition, is to protect our nation and that's front and foremost and the centre of what we do," he told Seven's Sunrise program.

© AAP 2023