Electricity privatisation has failed to deliver cheaper power to consumers and has not improved the sector’s efficiency, a new analysis by The Australia Institute has found. The analysis shows that since Victoria privatised power in the 1990s, electricity prices have outpaced inflation, increasing by 170 per cent compared with an increase of 60 per cent

The Australia Institute today called for the release of Treasury modelling on the relative cost of the age pension and tax concessions for superannuation over the coming decade. Speaking today at the National Press Club Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss said that until the Treasury releases this modelling neither the government nor the opposition can

Today’s announcement by Treasurer Wayne Swan will not fundamentally alter the incredible inequity that lies at the heart of the tax treatment of superannuation, according to The Australia Institute. The Institute’s Executive Director, Dr Richard Denniss, said not only did the government fail to go after the top one per cent of income earners, his

More than one in three families experience difficulties affording childcare despite increased government assistance over the past decade, a new study by The Australia Institute has found. While the government’s two recent announcements have sought to address availability of childcare through more flexible hours and quality through better wages for childcare workers, the Institute’s analysis

Australian farmers have lost $61.5 billion in export income since the mining boom pushed the Australian dollar to historic highs, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals. Still beating around the bush: The continuing impacts of the mining boom on rural exports examines the rural sector’s export income from the beginning of the mining

Twenty years of government inaction could lead to curable illnesses like tonsillitis again becoming a massive threat to human health, as the rise of anti-microbial resistant bacteria (aka “the superbug”) threatens to take us back to our pre-antibiotic era, a new paper by The Australia Institute reveals. Culture of Resistance: Australia’s response to the inappropriate

A new analysis by The Australia Institute, a public policy think tank, reveals that over the past decade tourism to Far North Queensland has slumped on the back of the mining boom driving up the Australian dollar. The Institute’s Public Engagement Officer Mark Ogge said the analysis shows that over the past ten years global

While Australia’s ‘big four’ banks claim to be fiercely competitive a new analysis by The Australia Institute shows that in fact over 53 per cent of each bank is owned by the same small number of institutional shareholders. The rise and rise of the big banks by Senior Research Fellow David Richardson examines the top

Launch of the Australasian Centre for Corporate Responsibility Despite the fact that Australians have more than one trillion dollars invested in superannuation most have virtually no idea where that money is invested or how those responsible for managing investments are voting at company AGMs. Speaking ahead of the inaugural meeting of the Australasian Centre for

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

New survey shows majority support for voluntary euthanasia The overwhelming majority of Australians support voluntary euthanasia, according to new research to be released at today’s Dying with Dignity NSW 2012 Parliamentary Forum in Sydney. The nationally representative survey of 1,422 people found that 71 per cent of Australians support the legalisation of voluntary euthanasia for

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

Media release Arrow’s own analysis of planned Gladstone LNG plant shows 1,600 jobs could be lost. A Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant proposed for Gladstone will have serious negative consequences, including large job losses, across the local and State economy, according to an analysis of the project’s own Economic Impact Assessment (EIA). Arrow Energy concedes

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

Everyone has heard how good the mining industry is for Queensland but is this actually the case for industries other than mining? There currently is a huge and unprecedented expansion of coal and coal seam gas mining under way across Queensland . There is no doubt that this will destroy existing jobs in tourism and