Australia’s housing crisis is only getting worse, and our social housing shortfall has ballooned to 500,000 and rent is skyrocketing. So how did we get here, and what can be done? This episode is a live recording from the Australia Institute’s Politics in the Pub series. This was recorded on Wednesday 19th April 2023 and

No, it’s not just inflation. Since the GFC, there has been a radical reversal in who benefits from economic growth. Back in the 1950s, the bottom 90% of income earners enjoyed around 90% of the benefits of the economic growth, but not anymore. So what has happened? This was recorded on Tuesday 11th April 2023 and things may

Superannuation is supposed to help us save for our retirement, and tax concessions on super are meant to reduce the burden on the government to fund our retirement through the age pension. But what are these concessions, and are they really working in the way they are intended to? To help explain, we’re talking to

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2022. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is an invitation to the Australian people to walk with First Nations people to create a better future. It is a gift: a strategic roadmap to peace, where all Australians can come together

A report from the Australia Institute’s Democracy & Accountability Program represents the largest and most comprehensive domestic study of the practice of cronyism in relation to appointments to a government agency ever conducted in Australia. This was recorded on Wednesday 12th October 2022 and things may have changed since recording. The Australia Institute // @theausinstitute

The Federal Government recently tabled legislation to establish a National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), a long overdue measure to help restore trust in politics and democracy. The bill is not without criticism however, there are concerns that the threshold for holding public hearings is unreasonably high. This was recorded on Thursday 29th September 2022 and things

In this episode we’re unpacking something a little different, something a bit outside our usual discussion about the economy. As Defence Minister Richard Marles lifts Peter Dutton’s ban on some charity and diversity events in Defence, we dive into the term ‘woke’. What does it mean? Why is it dominating the culture wars? Dive in

When you think about Australia’s entire economy, what share of that pie do you think goes to workers (via wages) compared to business (via profits)? The Business Council of Australia is making some bold claims that the profit share of income has fallen, but does the data back that up? In this episode we unpack

Join First Nations leaders Pat Anderson AO and Professor Megan Davis for a conversation about the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its three objectives: a Voice to Parliament, Treaty, and Truth. A webinar in partnership with the Sydney Peace Foundation. This was recorded on Wednesday 3rd August 2022 and things may have changed since

We are nearly at the end of the first sitting fortnight of the 47th Parliament, and it has been a packed agenda. This week we’re unpacking quick recap of how much things have changed in this new Parliament, and what changes are likely on the horizon. This was recorded live on Wednesday 3rd August 2022

The Parliaments of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory have been banned from legislating voluntary assisted dying laws, but the new government and members of the new Parliament are seeking to restore Territory Rights as a matter of priority. This was recorded on Tuesday 5th July 2022 and things may have changed since

New research from the Australia Institute shows that the number of political appointments to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has skyrocketed. In this episode Ebony unpacks the largest and most comprehensive domestic study of the practice of cronyism in relation to appointments to a government agency ever conducted, with Ben Oquist and Bill Browne. This was

Australia’s housing affordability crisis results from over- reliance on just two options – private home ownership and private renting. To tackle it, a wider repertoire of policies is required. Nordic nations’ widespread provision of public housing and housing co-operatives, priority for homes to live in rather than invest in, and effective reduction of homelessness, show

It’s not that long since the Royal Commission into aged care quality and safety handed down its findings Describing Australia’s aged care system as a shocking tale of neglect that needs a complete overhaul and not mere patching up. This is the third episode of a special series we are doing with our chief economist

The budget is come soon and, because it’s an election year, income tax cuts are squarely on the agenda. In today’s episode we ask, who really benefits from the government’s legislated tax cuts? New research from the Australia Institute suggests anyone earning under $90k could be worse off. Recorded live on 22 February 2022 and

Our summer podcast series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. Everyone knows that children do best when they are supported, nurtured and loved. But across Australia, children as young as 10 can be arrested by police, charged with an offence, hauled before a court and locked away in a

Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation with our chief economist Richard Denniss about the merits and flaws in the government’s fiscal response to the pandemic and the long terms effects on the Australian economy. This was recorded live on

Our summer series brings you some of the best conversations from our webinars in 2021. This episode we’re bringing you a conversation with award-winning journalist Marian Wilkinson and the Australia Institute’s chief economist Richard Denniss and Allan Behm, International & Security Affairs program director, about the growing pressure on Australia, as global and regional powers

My Year of Living Vulnerably is a dazzlingly brilliant book about love, trauma and recovery, we chat with the author Rick Morton.

Australia’s universities were uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession. Now, 18 months after the borders were first closed, things are getting worse for universities, not better.

The Doherty Modelling makes clear that without a highly functioning Test, Trace, Isolate and Quarantine (TTIQ) system we have no chance of stopping Australia’s ICUs from being overwhelmed; the problem is the effectiveness of TTIQ declines as case numbers rise and that has not factored into the modelling.

When it comes to addressing the systemic issues which are impacting Australian women’s everyday lives, it often feels like the problems are big and impossible to tackle. In today’s episode, Australia Institute research economist Eliza Littleton outlines 8 practical things that Prime Minister Scott Morrison could do right now to remove barriers to women’s equality

Australian women bore the brunt of the recession, but how are they faring economically now? In short: not great.

The findings of the Aged Care Royal Commission are shocking but not surprising. Among the recommendations 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, to create the revenue required to fund an aged care system with

When Facebook banned Australian news and information from its platform — as well as the pages of many charities, community groups and government departments — in an attempt to avoid regulation, it may have been the first time many Australians had heard of the news media bargaining code. So in this week’s episode we unpack what the code is, what it does, why it’s necessary and what happens next.

In its efforts to avoid regulation, Google commissioned economic modelling showing that Google providing tens of billions of dollars in benefits to Australia – but the figures quickly fell apart on closer inspection from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology. In this episode, chief economist Richard Denniss talks us through some of the assumptions

In our summer special series, we bring you some of our favourite guests from the Australia Institute’s webinar series in 2020. In this episode, host Ebony Bennett talks to Jay Weatherill, Kate Carnell and Richard Denniss about how an affordable, accessible early learning system could help power Australia’s economic recovery. The full webinar is available

Let’s face it, 2020 has been a bit of a nightmare. This week, in our final episode of the year, Ebony Bennett and Richard Denniss revisit some of the Australia Institute’s predictions back in March 2020 and reflect on the way Australia’s economy and politics have changed this year in response to the pandemic. Mild

Australia’s news media is one of the most highly concentrated in the world. Since 2019, more than 157 newsrooms have closed in Australia and many local, community and rural newspapers have ceased printing or gone digital only. It was in this climate that in 2018 the federal government tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

In this episode we talk to Dr Richard Denniss about the role of neoliberalism in spreading Covid-19 and how decades of privatisations, outsourcing and cuts to government spending have left Australia vulnerable during this pandemic.The Australia Institute // @theAUSInstituteHost: Ebony Bennett, deputy director at the Australia Institute // @ebony_bennettGuests: Richard Dennis, chief economist at the Australia