Coalition: $1.2 billion extra for schools over three years, possible partial deregulation of university sector.

Labor: Fund years five and six of the Gonski school funding deals for $4.5 billion, maintain university funding, cap vocational loans at $8000 a year.

Greens: Increase funding for disabled students by $4.8 billion over four years, reduce university fees by 20 per cent.

Schools, university policy and vocational education are all set to feature prominently in the campaign. Shorten has made education central to his pitch for government, declaring: "Australia cannot be an innovation nation, unless we are an education nation." Labor has committed to fund the six-year Gonski school funding agreements in full, spending an extra $37 billion over the next decade. It has also vowed not to cut university funding or deregulate fees, while cracking down on dodgy private colleges.

The Coalition won't spend as much on schools as Labor, but has tipped in an extra $1.2 billion over three years. It says its funding promises, linked to new testing for Year 1 students and performance pay for teachers, will deliver better results for less money. The Coalition has taken full university fee deregulation off the table. But it goes into the election without clear policies on universities and vocational education - just discussion papers - and big cuts to higher education remain in the budget. The Coalition will hope recent moves to soften its policies will be enough to neutralise a traditional campaign strength for Labor. Matthew Knott

2. Climate change

Coalition: A 26-28 per cent cut in emissions on 2005 levels by 2030; 23 per cent clean energy by 2020

Labor: A 45 per cent cut in emissions on 2005 levels by 2030; 23 per cent clean energy by 2020

Greens: A 63-82 per cent cut in emissions on 2005 levels by 2030; 28 per cent clean energy by 2020

The election is shaping as the second in a row to feature climate change as a major battleground. Labor has not been afraid to differentiate itself from the government on the issue, and will have to fend off a scare campaign over electricity prices, economic stagnation and claims that its emissions trading scheme is a new "carbon tax".

Turnbull, who was stripped of his role as opposition leader in 2009 for strongly backing an emissions trading scheme, now says his government's Direct Action plan – which pays polluters to cut emissions - is the right policy. However the emissions reduction targets he inherited from his predecessor have been widely criticised for being too weak, and Shorten says his policy takes "real action" that will create jobs and investment in renewable energy.

The Greens claim no major party is going far enough, and are spruiking a transition plan towards 90 per cent renewable energy by 2030 (compared with Labor's target of 50 per cent). Polls show voter concern over climate change is heating up – likely helped along by fears over record high temperatures, bushfires and coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef. Nicole Hasham

3. Housing affordability 

Coalition: No change to tax arrangements.

Labor:  No negative gearing for existing dwellings purchased after July 1, 2017, although tax break stays for investors in new homes. Capital gains tax discount cut to 25 per cent.

Greens: End negative gearing and phase out capital gains tax discount by 2020.

Housing affordability will be a major battleground in the election campaign, especially in Sydney and Melbourne, where house prices have surged dramatically leaving young people despairing if they will ever buy home. There are stark policy differences between the major parties, and some high-octane rhetoric to match.

The Coalition says Labor's policy will drive a "sledgehammer" through the economy and "smash" home values. It says the best way to improve housing affordability is for state governments to boost housing supply and for parents to help their children buy homes. Most beneficiaries of negative gearing are middle-income Australians and the tax break is an important tool for ordinary voters to build wealth.

Labor dismisses the Coalition attack as a scare campaign and argues its policy will have a moderate downward effect on home prices. It says the policy encourages new home building while striking a blow against growing inter-generational inequality. Labor says negative gearing - where losses on housing investments can be used to reduce other taxable income - gives investors an unfair advantage over owner-occupiers and first home buyers.

The vast bulk of negative gearing and capital gains tax breaks flow to high income earners, Labor maintains. Labor's policy will improve the budget by $32 billion over 10 years. The Greens' tax changes go further than Labor and would raise $87.4 billion over a decade. It would use some of the money to build affordable housing for the homeless and low income earners. Josh Gordon and Tom Allard

4. Industrial relations

Coalition: Restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission, create a Registered Organisations Commission.

Labor: Opposes ABCC and Registered Organisations Commission; final policy to come.

Greens: Tackle job insecurity.

Industrial relations policy - specifically, the Senate's refusal to pass the ABCC and Registered Organisations bills - gave Turnbull the trigger he wanted to call a double dissolution election.

The Coalition will argue during the campaign that restoring the ABCC, in particular, is a crucial economic measure that will restore law and order on building sites and boost productivity. It will also highlight the abolition of the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal, which had set so called "safe rates" for truck drivers. Labor and the Greens will both argue that the ABCC unfairly targets the construction union, the CFMEU, and represents an attack on workers rights, and that the abolition of the RSRT will place truckies' lives at risk.

Look out, too, for Labor and the unions to claim - once again - that the Coalition plans to bring back John Howard's dreaded WorkChoices policies. All three parties will make further announcements of new industrial relations policies during the campaign; look out for Labor to make one that pitches directly to small business. James Massola

5. Economic management

Coalition: Budget deficit to shrink slowly, independent Reserve Bank.

Labor: Budget deficit to shrink slowly, independent Reserve Bank.

Greens: Reform the taxation of trusts as well as negative gearing and super.

Last time around Labor and the Coalition couldn't have been further apart. "Our commitment is emphatic," the soon-to-be-treasurer Joe Hockey declared. "Based on the numbers published today we will deliver a surplus in our first year and every year after that." Instead, he delivered deficit after deficit, followed by his successor Scott Morrison. Each of the promised recoveries didn't eventuate. This time neither side is making any commitment to return the budget to surplus by any particular date. Both are promising savings, but are also promising to spend most of them. The Coalition will save on superannuation tax concessions, but will spend on company tax cuts.

Labor will save on super and negative gearing concessions and by continuing the temporary deficit reduction levy but will spend on restoring promised funding to schools and hospitals. Each will continue to subcontract month-to-month management of the economy to the Reserve Bank. Neither will change the Bank's riding orders. The Greens will reform the taxation of trusts as well as superannuation and negative gearing and will introduce a resource rent tax. It means that of the three major parties, the Greens are the ones whose promises would reduce the deficit the most. Peter Martin

6. Leadership

Malcolm Turnbull, 61: Turnbull has significantly greater parliamentary experience than his rivals. Has been PM for less than a year (since September) though he previously led the opposition for just over a year in 2008-09. However he has never led the party through an election campaign.

Bill Shorten, 48: Initially a poor prospect against Turnbull, Shorten has gained in confidence since the start of the year, and Labor's fortunes have turned around. Stability, persistence and policy daring have worked to Shorten's advantage.

Richard Di Natale, 45: The Greens leader has emerged from relative obscurity to become a confident player on the national political stage. The smooth transition from previous leader Christine Milne stands in stark contrast to the Liberals, and to Labor's Rudd-Gillard-Rudd era.

Leadership is always a potent factor in federal elections - arguably the most important factor. It is almost impossible for a party to win unless the leader inspires confidence in the electorate, and in his or her team, and this is especially the case as Australian campaigns have become more presidential in nature. None of the four major party leaders, including Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce, have spearheaded a federal election campaign before and all will be tested by the gruelling 8-week campaign.

Turnbull, the most experienced in public life, retains his commanding edge over Shorten in the preferred prime minister stakes, but his personal ratings have been falling since the start of the year. By contrast, Shorten is making up ground, and Labor is now neck and neck with the Coalition in the polls. Turnbull, the former highly successful businessman, has staked his opening pitch on having an economic plan that will take Australia into a prosperous future, which he claims Labor would wreck. Shorten is drawing on his background as a union leader to badge himself as the protector of lower and middle income Australians.

Expect negative attacks on Turnbull for his wealth and on Shorten for his links to the less savoury strands of the union movement. Top hat versus hard hat, as some have badged it. Greens leader Di Natale, a former GP with a strong pragmatic streak, will be tested  on whether he can maintain the Greens' record number in the Senate (10) and pick up more lower house seats than the one the party currently holds. Deborah Snow

7. Tax and superannuation

Coalition: Business tax cuts worth $48.5 billion over 10 years, minor income tax relief for those on $80,000 a year, cap on tax-free super.

Labor: Support only the company tax cuts for small businesses, retain the deficit levy, reform negative gearing and superannuation.

Greens: Oppose company and income tax cuts, remove negative gearing, remove "fossil fuel subsidies" and force wealthy to pay base level of tax.

The Coalition is promising immediate tax relief for small business, extending to a cut to a 25 per cent tax rate for all businesses by 2026-27. The negative gearing and capital gains concessions would stay, but more high earners would pay the extra superannuation contributions tax, there would be tighter limits on how much each Australian could contribute to tax advantaged super and a (high) limit on how much earnings would be exempt from tax in retirement.

Labor backs the changes to super but not those it says are "retrospective". It also backs the Coalition's plan to lift the income threshold for the second-highest personal rate from $80,000 to $87,000 and supports the Coalition's plan to crack down harder on tax avoidance by multinationals, introducing a Britain-style "Google tax". Labor backs the tax cut for small businesses but opposes its extension to big business. Both will lift tobacco tax by 50 per cent over four years. The Greens are promising to end negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions, crack down far more heavily on multinational tax avoidance, introduce a "Buffet rule" that would ensure high earners paid at least a base rate of tax, and end fossil fuel subsidies. Peter Martin

8. Asylum seekers

Coalition: Maintain offshore detention, asylum seeker boat turn-backs and temporary protection visas, increase humanitarian intake to 18,750 by 2018-19.

Labor: Maintain offshore detention with independent oversight and better conditions, continue boat turn-backs, abolish TPVs, increase humanitarian intake to 27,000 by 2025.

Greens: Abolish offshore detention centres and TPVs, increase humanitarian intake to 50,000 a year from 2017.

The close alignment of the government and Labor on asylum seeker policy seemed set to somewhat nullify the issue in the 2016 election campaign. But the debate was recently revived after two refugees at Nauru set themselves alight - one fatally - and a Papua New Guinea court ruled that detention at Manus Island was illegal and must end. Any debate over border protection will play well for the government, allowing it to remind voters that it "stopped the boats" and drownings at sea that occurred under Labor. Labor took a harder line on asylum seekers at its 2015 national conference but is frequently reluctant to draw attention to the asylum seeker issue given its record on boat arrivals.

This means the need for a durable solution to the quagmire, such as finding a third country in which to resettle refugees, may not feature as highly in the campaign as it should. The government is resolute on maintaining boat turn-backs and offshore detention. Labor supports the measures - despite resistance from its Left faction - but wants independent oversight, faster processing and more humane conditions in the centres. The Greens want offshore detention abolished completely, and say those in detention in Australia should be quickly moved into the community after health and security checks. Labor and the Greens both oppose the government's reintroduction of temporary protection visas, which critics say keep asylum seekers in perpetual limbo. Nicole Hasham

And the four issues that could...

1. A republic

Coalition: No official policy.

Labor: Supports a republic.

Greens: Supports a republic.

On one level, all the settings are in place for an Australian head of state to become reality. Both Turnbull and Shorten, as well as all state and territory leaders support the change. But despite the Australian Republican Movement actively campaigning and recruiting high profile members, the issue has again fallen by the wayside.

While there is plenty of backing among Labor, Greens and Liberal MPs, most decline to agitate for an issue seen as more boutique and less pressing than others. Turnbull, who passionately led the 'yes' campaign at the 1999 referendum, now says the country should wait until the Queen's reign ends. The divisions that helped scuttle that referendum remain and support among the general population has flat-lined at about 42 per cent as young and beautiful royals have captured imaginations.

The ARM will do its best to keep the issue on the agenda and have declared it wants to be independent of Britain by 2020 but, pending a change in the priorities of politicians and their voters, it looks unlikely. And if advocates were looking to young people for hope, they will be disappointed. Polling has shown that young Australians are even more apathetic about the issue than the overall population. Fergus Hunter

2. National security

Coalition: Adopted new counter-terrorism laws, opted for local submarine build after lengthy consideration.

Labor: Backs fight against Islamic State and terror laws, favours naval shipbuilding locally.

Greens: Wants more civil liberties protections, opposes bombing campaign in Iraq and Syria.

Rarely is there much daylight between the major parties on national security, particularly during an election campaign. One exception is border security, where no doubt the government will frequently remind voters how boat arrivals have gone from a flood under Labor to a trickle under the Coalition.

Labor has backed counter-terrorism laws with some tweaking, and supports the fight against the Islamic State. Even the hyper-political issue of submarines is blunted with the promise of all 12 being built in Adelaide, though Labor is demanding Turnbull mandate that 70 per cent of each boat be made locally. Labor has also pressured the government over the South China Sea, demanding that Defence be authorised to challenge China through "freedom of navigation" exercises. Labor will hammer the government over building new naval supply ships in Spain, to which the government will respond that Labor made no shipbuilding commitments while in government. There are arguments on both sides that the voters - overwhelmingly of South Australia - will need to sort through. David Wroe

3. Same-sex marriage

Coalition: A plebiscite at an unknown date after the election.

Labor: No plebiscite, legislate within 100 days of taking office.

Greens: No plebiscite, vote into law as soon as possible.

Bubbling away in the background of this campaign are competing promises to advance same-sex marriage. Under Tony Abbott, the Coalition committed to holding a nationwide plebiscite if re-elected. Turnbull has maintained that commitment, and in last week's budget, the government set aside $160 million in the contingency reserve for a public vote.

Labor argues a plebiscite is unnecessary, and has instead promised to legislate for marriage equality within its first 100 days of taking office. It would allow its MPs a conscience vote, although a clear majority now favour same-sex marriage. Support is less emphatic on the Coalition side, and some MPs have indicated they would not vote for same-sex marriage even if a plebiscite is passed.

However, do not expect the issue to be front and centre of the campaign. The major parties remain wary of irking socially conservative voters in marginal seats. Turnbull personally supports change, but is locked into the policy agreed under Abbott. Politically, Labor is hampered by its slow and checkered path to its current position. Shorten will argue a vote for Labor will make marriage equality a reality, while the government will tell the public it's going to give them the opportunity to decide for themselves. Michael Koziol

4. Political donations

Coalition: Supports the existing system in which donations below $13,000 do not need to be disclosed, with no caps.

Labor: Supports proposals for greater transparency around donations, including reducing the disclosure threshold to $1000. Is open to considering bans or caps.

Greens: A ban on for-profit corporate donations and a cap on election expenditure. Disclosure of political donations above $1000 as close as possible to real time.

Greens senator Lee Rhiannon has been urging the Coalition and Labor to commit to political donation reform in response to the latest political donation scandal involving the NSW state and federal Liberal party and Cabinet Secretary Arthur Sinodinos. The Greens are voluntarily disclosing all political donations above $1000 as they come in. But the source of donations to Labor and the Coalition will not be disclosed until February next year. The ALP supports greater transparency around donations, but has not agreed to follow the Greens' call in banning political donations from for-profit corporations or caps.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull raised the issue of national political donations reform informally at a leaders' dinner before an Australian governments meeting in March. But the issue has not appeared on the official agenda, despite a request from Premier Mike Baird last year. Fairfax Media has reported Turnbull is known to personally support a ban on big corporate and union donations.

According to the Greens, the minerals industry in NSW donated more than $5 million, the gambling industry $4 million and the property industry more than $9 million to political parties between 2009 and 2014. Deborah Snow