New research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, written by Senior Economist Alison Pennington and Monash University’s Ben Eltham, reveals the ongoing, devastating impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s arts and entertainment sector and provides a series of recommendations to government that would reboot the creative sector following the crisis. Key Findings: The arts

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Australians about their attitudes towards making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for workers in contact with vulnerable demographics. Key Findings: More than three-quarters of Australians (77%) agree with making the COVID-19 vaccine mandatory for workers in contact with vulnerable demographics, such as aged care workers. Only

Woodside’s controversial Scarborough Gas Field would result in an additional 1.6 billion tonnes of emissions—equivalent to building 15 new coal power stations—and places World Heritage Murujuga Aboriginal rock art at risk of being destroyed, new research by the Conservation Council of Western Australia and the Australia Institute shows. Approvals to process the Scarborough gas field

The key measures in the Australian Human Rights Commission ‘Human Rights and Technology’ report released Thursday are strongly endorsed by the Australian public, according to new research. A poll of 1,100 Australians conducted by Essential Research for the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology finds majority support for the key measures recommended in the report:

New research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work suggests that by requiring stronger monitoring and prevention measures in Australian workplaces, a significant share of mental illness and injury could be avoided. In addition to reducing the toll of mental illness for workers and their families, these measures would also generate substantial economic and fiscal

New research from the Australia Institute shows that, per dollar invested, the arts and entertainment sector employs twice as many men and 10 times as many women as the building construction industry. The research is being released after this week’s Federal Budget which revealed just $223 million for the jobs intensive Art and Entertainment sector,

“The confused ruling by Facebook’s internal oversight board highlights the need for an independent public network that is not driven by commercial objectives,” said Peter Lewis, director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology. “The overnight ruling, that upheld the suspension of President Trump but calls on Facebook to establish clearer guidelines for banning

New research from The Australia Institute shows more than 4 in 5 South Australians (83%) want the state to legislate Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) laws based on the model that has already been implemented in Victoria. The Australia Institute surveyed 511 South Australians about VAD laws between 9 and 26 February 2021 in the lead

The resilience of Australia’s electricity infrastructure is being undermined by a chronic pattern of underinvestment in maintenance and upkeep, the result of rent-seeking by private electricity producers and a deeply flawed regulatory system. That is the conclusion of a detailed review of empirical and qualitative data on the transmission and distribution system contained in a

Childcare Funding 20x More Effective at Creating Jobs than Tax Cuts

A new report by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology calls for a rethink of the role of the national broadcaster to provide alternate digital spaces to Facebook and other global platforms. The paper The Public Square Project proposes a publicly funded social network built on the trust and reach of the ABC to create: communities

The Budget has traditionally advantaged men over women. The Australia Institute has today released a paper which explores how the Budget is currently biased in favour of men, and makes seven recommendations on how to improve women’s economic security and use the Budget as a tool to reduce gender inequality. The recommendations in this paper

New economic modelling commissioned by the Australia Institute from the Centre for Social Research and Methods, shows that four tax concessions: negative gearing, superannuation tax concessions, capital gain tax discount and refunding excess franking credits, cost the Federal Budget $60 billion per year; and for every dollar that goes to women, two dollars goes to

The vast majority of Australians (76%) support the Commonwealth allowing Territory Governments to legislate to legalise voluntary assisted dying within their jurisdictions. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,434 Australians about their attitudes to voluntary assisted dying. Key findings: Three in four Australians (76%) support the Commonwealth allowing Territory Governments to legalise

New economic modelling commissioned by the Australia Institute from Communities in Numbers, shows the effective $100 per fortnight cut to JobSeeker, scheduled to take effect on 1 April 2021, will push a further 155,000 people into poverty – including 20,000 children. This choice by the Government will mean there will be over a million more

New research from the Australia Institute has shown the majority of Coalition voters support the Liberal Party setting gender quotas to achieve a representative number of women preselected as Liberal Party candidates. The research also shows that half of Australians (50%) are not very or not at all confident in the Prime Minister’s ability to

Revelations at Senate estimates this morning that Treasury believe the scrapping of JobKeeper will result in 100,000 to 150,000 jobs being lost provide a chilling warning to Australia’s unemployed and to all businesses that sell products to Australian consumers. “It is staggering to believe the Government would even consider implementing a policy change that would

The Australia Institute has today published a discussion paper on the barriers to progress on Aboriginal land rights in the ACT. The paper explores the issues that need to be resolved before the ACT Government can make progress on treaty discussions. Key Findings: The transfer of the land of the ACT from NSW to the

More than half of Australians support an independent inquiry into whether Christian Porter is a fit and proper person to be Attorney General, according to new research from the Australia Institute. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Australians between 11 to 12 March 2021, about whether they support an independent inquiry

New research, released for International Women’s Day (8 March 2021), shows Australia’s recovery from the pandemic recession has widened the gender pay gap, as women’s jobs returned on a more part-time and casualised basis than for men. The report, by the Centre for Future Work, warns that Australia’s gender pay gap could deteriorate even further

Among the recommendations in the Aged Care Royal Commission report is the call for an effective 1% increase in the Medicare levy, or a new Medicare-style Aged Care levy which could be applied progressively based on income. “Increasing the Medicare levy by at least 1 per cent, or a new progressive Aged Care levy, is

New analysis from the Australia Institute shows Australia’s unemployment rate is worse than that of most OECD countries. In fact, this analysis shows that across the OECD, it is higher unemployment payments (the ‘net replacement rate of unemployment’) that correlate with lower unemployment rates. The Government and commentators have long argued that Australia’s internationally low

“The legislation creates a safety net designed to ensure that social media platforms recognise the value of public interest journalism,” said Peter Lewis, director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology. “We know the prospect of the code has led to significant settlements with large media players. We now need to see how it

The reported Government increase to JobSeeker of $50 per fortnight, expected to be announced today, is inadequate and will see tens of thousands of people fall into poverty at the end of March. “An increase to the JobSeeker base rate of $50 per fortnight, while cutting the $150 per fortnight increase to JobSeeker supplement for

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology calls for a National Facebook Advertising Suspension Until News is Restored

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has today released a report which confirms trends described in earlier research by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. However, the BCA’s expressed concern for ‘the future of bargaining’ contradicts its support for the Government’s omnibus bill which will further undermine genuine bargaining and suppress already record-low wage

“Facebook’s decision to prevent users viewing or sharing public interest journalism will make it a weaker social network,” said Peter Lewis, director of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology. “The social network is destroying its social license to operate. Facebook actions mean the company’s failures in privacy, disinformation, and data protection will require a

New Australia Institute analysis shows Google’s estimates of its economic importance to Australia are vastly overstated, and Google’s claims to generate benefits of $39 billion for businesses and $14 billion for consumers do not withstand even the most basic scrutiny. Nevertheless, the tech giant uses those figures to claim it is as important to the

New research by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work shows the Federal Government’s omnibus industrial relations bill will lead to a significant increase in employer-designed enterprise agreements (EA) that reduce workers’ pay and conditions, rather than improve them—signaling a return to the WorkChoices pattern of EA-making and putting further downward pressure on Australia’s already

New research from The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology has shown that a majority of Australians want social media companies to prioritise journalism from news sites, limit the spread of misinformation and be more transparent about how they choose what content their users see. The research is being released as representatives from Facebook prepare