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

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

“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 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

Today’s employment figures show that more government stimulus is needed to counter the persistent, hidden economic fallout of COVID-19, The Australia Institute has said. “While a modest fall in unemployment is welcome, there is still a long way to go before we see a return to situation normal,” said Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist at The

New research from The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology has shown that four in five Australians say it is “disturbing” that a search engine can remove Australian news from its results.

A year-end review of the dramatic changes in Australia’s labour market in 2020 has confirmed that the worst economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic were felt by Australians in relatively low-paid, insecure jobs. Key Findings: Workers in casual jobs lost employment at a rate 8 times faster than those in permanent positions Part-time workers suffered

The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,018 Australians on 17-18 December 2020 about their perceptions of the year 2020. Key findings:  When presented with a list of 11 words or phrases and asked which best describes 2020, ‘unprecedented’ was the single most popular choice, chosen by 19%, followed by ‘terrible’ (14%), ‘tragic’

New research from The Australia Institute has shown that a significant majority of New South Wales voters support the introduction of voluntary assisted dying laws, modelled on Victorian legislation that was passed last year. The Australia Institute surveyed 1,038 New South Wales residents between 10 and 16 December 2020. Key results: Seven in 10 NSW

New research from The Australia Institute has shown that the economy, health and climate change were the top three issues of concern for Australian voters in the second half of 2020. The Australia Institute surveyed nationally representative samples of over 1,000 Australians each month from August about what they think is the most important national

The Australia Institute’s Centre for Responsible Technology has welcomed the introduction of legislation, forcing Google and Facebook to pay for news, as globally significant response to the growing power of Big Tech. The News Media Bargaining Code, to be tabled by the Morrison Government this week, will force the platforms to compensate for the premium

The Australian public has endorsed moves by the Morrison Government to pass legislation requiring Google and Facebook to pay media companies for the news that drives their social networks. The proposed ACCC Media Code seeks to regulate big tech platforms such as Facebook and Google, and help ensure a viable future for Australian media. The

The Morrison Government’s decision to reduce the rate of JobSeeker to $150 from January 2021 will push an additional 190,000 Australians below the poverty line—including 50,000 children—and have a devastating impact on low income families, shows new research by The Australia Institute. The Federal Government has announced it intends to cut the JobSeeker supplement again,

New research has revealed that almost three-quarters of Australians “working from home” are doing at least some of it in non-work-time. This has contributed to a substantial rise in the incidence of unpaid overtime this year, which now costs Australian workers almost $100 billion a year.

Increased public funding for child care is nearly 20 times more effective at creating jobs than a tax cut of the same size according to new macroeconomic modelling released by The Australia Institute today. The new report entitled ‘A comparison of the economic impacts of income tax cuts and childcare spending’  by Dr Janine Dixon,

New analysis from The Australia Institute has found that the Government’s income tax changes announced in the Budget will disproportionately advantage men over women, both now and into the future. Men will receive three in every five dollars of tax benefit in this financial year and then seven in every 10 dollars of the benefit

New analysis from The Australia Institute has found that the income tax changes announced in the Budget yesterday will disproportionately advantage wealthy Australians both now and into the future. The limited, temporary benefit that will flow to Australians on low and middle incomes this year will be replaced by larger, permanent tax cuts given to

A national advertising campaign opposing the early introduction of the Government’s income tax cuts will begin airing on SKY and commercial television this week. The campaign is being supported by more than 40 prominent Australians, including: Bernie Fraser, former governor of the Reserve Bank Stephen Grenville, former deputy governor of the Reserve Bank John Hewson