May 2023
Ending Nazi Symbols: Let’s Get It Right
Australia needs legislation outlawing the public display of Nazi symbols in the service of white supremacist ideology, but it is critical that we get the free speech balance right.
The Duck Stops Here: Economic Benefits from Vic Duck Shooting Ban
Victoria’s parliamentary inquiry into native bird hunting arrangements will hold hearings today, with The Australia Institute appearing at 11.30am.
Rushed SA Anti-Protest Laws Threaten Civil Liberties: Democracy Experts
Laws which impose extreme penalties and jail time for peaceful protest have been rushed through the South Australian lower house in what democracy experts have described as an alarming threat to civil liberties.
Scientists’ urgent call for action to save Maugean skate
The Australia Institute will join a growing number of state and national organisations, independent scientists and Tasmanians, demanding an immediate halt to salmon farming in Macquarie Harbour. The Maugean skate is teetering on the brink of extinction according to scientists from the Institute of Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS), who this week took the extraordinary
Affordability of a Liveable Jobseeker Payment is a Non-Issue
Commonwealth on Track for Diminutive Deficit or Surplus in 2022-2023 In the lead-up to its 2023-24 budget, the Labor Government finds itself in an awkward position, accepting that the Jobseeker payment is “seriously inadequate” and an impediment to regaining work, yet professing that it lacks the financial capacity to afford a meaningful increase anytime soon.
Vast Majority Want Greater Affordable Housing Direct Investment in Budget
New research from the Australia Institute shows that eight in 10 Australians (80%) agree that the Federal Government should spend more money to directly build affordable housing in the Budget. The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their attitudes toward the Federal Government’s response to the housing crisis. Key Findings:
April 2023
The Housing Crisis
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
Getting Off Gas: Majority Support Household Electrification as Economic, Climate Costs Rise
New national research shows a majority of voters feel positive about switching Australian homes away from gas and moving to full electrification, as cost of living and climate concerns continue to rise. The report, based on a nationally representative survey of Australian households undertaken by The Australia Institute and SEC Newgate, reveals very little opposition
The economy’s still growing, so why does it feel like you’re falling behind?
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
Inequality on Steroids as Bottom 90% get just 7% of Economic Growth Since 2009
Inequality has been on steroids in Australia over the last decade with new data revealing the bottom 90% of Australians receive just 7% of economic growth per person since 2009, while the top 10% of income earners reap 93% of the benefits. The data shows a radical reversal on the long term trend from the
Can a stockmarket gamble pay for the housing crisis?
Australia is in the midst of a housing crisis. Record numbers of Australians are in severe housing stress and it’s not just people with rising interest rates on their mortgages. Fewer and fewer people can afford a roof over their head and more and more people are sleeping rough on the streets or in their car.
March 2023
Safeguard Amended: What Next? | Between the Lines
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New South Wales needs to end its addiction to the pokies
NSW has one poker machine for every 88 people – more than 10 times the amount in Western Australia
Super Expensive, Super Unfair
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
Women Earn $1m less than men & $136,000 Less in Super over Working Life
New research released on International Women’s Day reveals Australian women earn $1.01m less over their working lives than men, based on median income data. Women earn $136,000 less in superannuation over their working lives than men, based on median income data. Women earning the median wage will accumulate approximately $393,676 in super, $151,000 below what
February 2023
Life Expectancy, Suicide, & Avoidable Death Significantly Worse for Far West NSW than Sydney
New analysis reveals residents born in Far West NSW are suffering substantially worse health outcomes than residents in Sydney. People in Far West NSW are dying earlier than they should, from avoidable causes, and while suicide rates have steadied in Sydney, they are on the rise in the most remote parts of the state. The
Nordic Model Shows Subsidies Support Media Diversity
Nordic models of providing subsidies to the media help support media diversity and public interest journalism and should be considered as part of the Albanese government’s commitments to review and improve media policy, according to a new report from the Nordic Policy Centre at the Australia Institute. Key findings: Norway’s direct ‘press support’ subsidies for
January 2023
Nothing to see here
If a pandemic killed 15,000 people and nobody seemed to notice, was it really a pandemic? In Australia last year, COVID-19 killed more people than lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer, car accidents and drowning combined. And in addition to the 15,000 deaths directly attributed to COVID, the Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us that
Summer Series – Uluru Statement from the Heart: Sydney Peace Prize winner [Webinar]
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
December 2022
Inequality and poverty is a policy choice – and the Stage 3 tax cuts will make both worse
When you reduce the revenue available to fund government services, you inevitably increase inequality
Shining a Light on Cronyism
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
Jailing climate protestor Violet Coco shows anti-protest laws have gone too far
The anti-protest laws that have swept the country are a threat to us all, even if you’ve never attended a protest in your life. Governments are writing and passing laws which authorise companies to legally cause harm to our community and environment, while jailing individuals seeking to stop such harm through non-violent protest. The draconian
The latest data shows the urgent need for more public housing
As approvals for public sector housing hit 2 year lows, the ambition for more public housing needs to be even greater than the government’s 20,000 in 5 years target.
9 in 10 Believe It’s Governments Job to Ensure Wages Keep Up with Cost of Living: Research Polling
The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,001 Australians about their views on wages and cost of living between 1-4 November. The majority of Australians report that their wages have not kept up with the cost of living over the past 12 months. “This research shows most Australians feel like they are falling
October 2022
Rental prices are going up fast across Australia
People around Australia have been seeing the advertised prices of rents increasing, now the inflation figures are catching up.
Australia’s housing crisis is self-inflicted. We need four reforms to reverse it
How is it that in Australia, one of the richest countries in the world, we have a housing crisis where hundreds of thousands of renters can’t afford a roof over their head? To figure out why rents are soaring, we need to look at the broader political disease: we have spent about two decades trying
Families change but the same problems remain
The latest data from the Bureau of Statistics on families shows that more than ever before couples with dependants are both working.
Gattaca
In our third episode, Duncan and Mark dive into the 1997 sci-fi noir, Gattaca. Duncan skips out on the squirmy bits, but both our podcasters ultimately complete the viewing of this underrated film with a sense that the eugenicist strive to perfection that so often infiltrates the thinking of tech companies is perhaps not a
Push for Nationally Consistent Laws to Prevent Stealthing: Research Report
New research published by the Australia Institute, in partnership with RMIT, shows there is legal ambiguity surrounding the non-consensual removal of a condom during sex, also known as stealthing, that could be fixed through nationally consistent laws. The report Stealthing: Legislating for Change finds that while an overwhelming majority of Australians support criminalisation, many Australians do not
Members of Parliament among those who benefit the most from the Stage 3 cuts
Taxation data shows which occupations will get the biggest cuts – and how few people work in them
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