Millions of Australians afraid to talk about mental health with their boss One in two Australians would feel uncomfortable discussing issues about mental health with their manager, according to new research by The Australia Institute. An unhealthy obsession? The impact of work hours and workplace culture on Australia’s health reveals that there is an epidemic

The Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 1,422 Australians in March 2013. Survey respondents were representative by sex, age and state/territory. The survey included questions about survey respondents’ awareness of employment practices that may be used by private schools. Respondents who had children (n=306) at school were also asked what they looked for in

IMF study confirms super profits of Australia’s banks A new study by the International Monetary Fund shows that Australia’s ‘big four’ banks are the most concentrated in the world and are among the most profitable in the world. The IMF today released its Financial System Stability Assessment for Australia . The following graph (to see

Australian farmers have lost $43.5 billion in export income since the mining boom pushed the Australian dollar to historic highs, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals. Beating around the bush: The impact of the mining boom on rural exports examines the rural sector’s export income from the beginning of the mining boom in

Media release Do you know what time you will go home from work today? More than 2.2 million Australians head out to work each morning with very little idea what time they will knock off that night, according to new research by The Australia Institute. In estimating the time that they will knock off, more

Census reveals forestry and logging one of Tasmania’s smallest employers New census data reveals that forestry and logging in Tasmania employed only 975 workers in 2011 making it one of the smallest employers in the state, according to analysis by The Australia Institute. The health care industry, on the other hand, employed 24,151 in 2011.

Put it in your diary – Wednesday November 21 is this year’s national Go Home On Time Day – the day Australians are encouraged to say ‘no’ to last-minute meetings, avoid out-of-hours emails and calls, and claim back some work/life balance.

Despite eight in every ten Australians belonging to a co-op or mutual such as the NRMA or AustralianSuper, only 16 per cent realise it, according to a new paper by The Australia Institute being launched today. In the first analysis of its kind, The Australia Institute has mapped the size and scope of mutually owned

Media release 14 September 2012 Press reports today suggest the Coalition has plans to scrap the superannuation rebate for low income earners. A recent publication by The Australia Institute ‘Can the taxpayer afford ‘self-funded retirement’?’ has drawn attention to the super rorts benefiting high income earners in Australia. ‘When in government the Coalition turned superannuation

In July 2012 The Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 542 Tasmanians regarding their perceptions of the forestry industry and its contribution to the state’s economy.

According to the Western Australian government’s own economic assessment, the Browse LNG precinct proposed for James Price Point is likely to have a significant adverse impact on the state’s budget, will employ few local workers and harm the region’s reputation as a tourist destination, a new analysis by The Australia Institute has found. Mr Matt

The risk of loneliness increases for those in the community raising children, either as a single parent or as part of a couple, a new study from The Australia Institute has found. All the lonely people: Loneliness in Australia 2001-2009 reveals that three in ten Australians experienced loneliness in that period and that the number

Media release Today’s increase in the unemployment rate to 5.1 per cent in May hides important gender differences in the unemployment experience, according to The Australia Institute. With the male unemployment rate remaining the same at 4.8 per cent, female unemployment has seen an increase of 0.3 percentage points to 5.5 per cent. “Today’s figures

Every day that the Big Four banks delay passing on the Reserve Bank’s interest rate cut of half a per cent represents a transfer of around $12 million from home buyers with variable loans to the banks, according to The Australia Institute. An analysis of the ANZ’s new financial report shows that the bank has

The Gillard Government and Opposition are out of step with community attitudes towards welfare payments with a new survey showing that Australians support an $84 increase to the Newstart Allowance. Most Australians believe that the current Newstart Allowance is far too low to meet the most basic costs of living the survey reveals. When asked

Media release QLD mining boom to destroy 20,000 non-mining jobs Queensland’s massive mining boom is likely to destroy one non-mining job for every two mining jobs it creates, costing around 20,000 jobs, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute. Job creator or job destroyer? An analysis of the mining boom in Queensland by

The mining boom continues to drive international tourists away from Cairns and Far North Queensland on the back of the high Australian dollar, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute, a Canberra-based think tank. The analysis shows that in Far North Queensland international tourism numbers have slumped from 868,303 to 648,959 over the

The China First mine proposed for Queensland is so large that even the economic impact statement prepared by the mine’s proponents finds that it will drive more than $1.2 billion worth of manufacturing offshore, cause 3,000 job losses and result in higher housing costs and a less equal distribution of income. Dr Richard Denniss, Executive

The announcement today of a $20 billion dollar hole in the budget is a storm in a teacup and only proves that the government’s pursuit of a surplus has more to do with politics than economics, according to The Australia Institute’s Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss. “Australia’s GDP is more than $1,400 billion per year,

The history of takeovers in Australia suggests that the undertakings SABMiller PLC gave to retain Foster’s iconic Australian identity are likely to be worthless, according to The Australia Institute. SABMiller PLC, the foreign buyer, has undertaken that: •Operations will remain in Australia •Production facilities will not be moved offshore •Foster’s iconic brand portfolio will be

Many workers who are given mobile phones and laptops by their employer feel obliged to work overtime, new research by The Australia Institute reveals. The research on the increasingly blurry boundary between work and life was conducted for this year’s national Go Home On Time Day, which will be held on Wednesday November 30. Now

Australians are paying more than $1 billion each year in out-of-pocket expenses for GP visits, pharmaceuticals, pathology and diagnostic testing despite Medicare’s pledge to provide ‘fair and affordable’ health care, a new study by The Australia Institute reveals. The study also confirmed that many Australians are forgoing treatment, with almost a quarter of survey respondents

Public perceptions of the size and significance of the mining industry to the Australian economy are radically different to the facts, a new survey by The Australia Institute reveals. When asked what percentage of workers they believe were employed in the mining industry, the average response was around 16 per cent, when according to the

The Australia Institute today called on Opposition Treasury spokesman Joe Hockey to outline how many public servants they will require to administer their ‘direct action’ climate change plan, in light of his comments about disbanding the Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency. Mr Hockey has said that the Coalition is considering disbanding the Department

The Coalition’s proposed Direct Action Plan to combat climate change is likely to cost $11 billion per year, require hundreds of new, highly-trained public servants to administer it and would still be unlikely to achieve any meaningful abatement, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals. The Direct Action Plan is a form of competitive

The mining industry, not Australian workers, should be shouldering the blame for Australia’s flagging productivity growth, according to a new analysis by The Australia Institute. In a speech last night Dr Martin Parkinson, the new head of Treasury, quoted figures showing that Australia’s annual productivity growth slipped from 2.1 per cent in the 1990s to

The threat by big tobacco companies to slash cigarette prices if the Government presses ahead with its plan to legislate for plain packaging is proof that smokers in Australia are being ripped off to the tune of $500 million per year, according to analysis conducted by The Australia Institute. “The tobacco companies are saying that

The bipartisan obsession with returning the federal budget to surplus has provided a convenient distraction from the genuine debate which is needed in Australia about when we will invest in infrastructure and social welfare, according to a new paper by The Australia Institute released today. Surplus fetish: The political economy of the surplus, deficit and

The Senate Economics Committee report into the banking sector, released today, is a disappointing missed opportunity to initiate much-needed reform to rein in the power of Australia’s big four banks which exploit their market power at the expense of consumers and small businesses, according to The Australia Institute. Senior Research Fellow David Richardson said the

In October 2009 the Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 1,807 main grocery buyers in Australia and New Zealand. Respondents were asked about the food they throw out and their attitudes and behaviour in relation to food waste.