Economic growth is a very strange thing. In 1949 when our gross domestic product was about a tenth of what it is today, Australia set out to build 145 kilometres of tunnels, 16 major dams and nine power stations as part of the Snowy Hydro scheme. But 60 years later, when GDP is $1.3 trillion

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

Job ads and corporate websites are often littered with claims that particular companies are “employers of choice” or committed to the wellbeing of staff. But according to a recent survey by the Australia Institute, around one third of the workforce reports experiencing stress and anxiety as a result of their work. About 2.2 million workers

John Howard’s description of work/life balance as a ”barbecue stopper” was more accurate than he realised. Not only does it continue to stop conversation among the ”working families” of such interest to political strategists, but the length and unpredictability of working hours makes it increasingly difficult for friends and families to make plans and keep

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

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.

Alan Jones tried to link the backlash against his insult of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s late father to the issue of free speech but, in reality, it is the free market that is causing him grief. The problem for the dinosaur of radio is that national brands such as Woolworths and Mercedes-Benz increasingly want their

This edition of The Australia Institute’s newsletter features: Productivity – lazy workers or lazy analysis? David Richardson Gina’s call a bit rich Dr Richard Denniss Exposing the great sunscreen cover-up Dr Gregory Crocetti Measuring fugitive emissions Matt Grudnoff Could you live on $245 per week? Ben Irvine Infographics The economy and social justice Senator Doug

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

There are two fiscal elephants in the Gillard government’s cabinet room. The first and better known elephant is the fact that the government’s wafer-thin surplus has been crushed under the weight of a slowdown in revenue forecasts and a speed-up in new spending announcements. The second elephant is that the cost of so-called “self-funded” retirement

Imagine if a company lost money selling something that it never paid for. Now imagine that company was owned by a state government. In an environment in which state governments and oppositions are either crying poor or crying waste you might imagine that such expensive mismanagement would create a bit of political heat. But the

Canberrans pay more for petrol than residents in other capital cities. In fact, we pay more for petrol than people in nearby regional towns like Albury. While I don’t have too much sympathy for the oil companies, we shouldn’t single them out for too much criticism as the simple truth is that Canberrans pay more

The budget papers mask some public spending by classifying it as ‘tax expenditures’ The amount the federal government spends on superannuation subsidies is forecast to hit $45 billion in 2015-16. Yes: $45 billion! That’s well over 10 per cent of the government’s total projected outlays and bigger than the amount spent on the age pension.

It is rare to read about the dangers of fluoride in the opinion pages of Australia’s mainstream newspapers, even though a small group of “fluoride sceptics” are convinced of the dangers to our health. It is also rare to hear about the Rothschild banking conspiracy on radio, even though a committed group of people around

No rational person would work in the community sector. Not according to neoclassical economists at least. Rational individuals, we are told, are motivated by their own self-interest. So why would anyone ever volunteer to help people they don’t know? And why would an organisation structure itself as a ”not-for-profit” when economists typically assume that profit

This edition of The Australia Institute’s newsletter features: Debt is not the villain Dr Richard Denniss Childcare’s market model in dire need of reform Eva Cox It’s hard to escape the big four banks David Richardson Illicit drugs: Changing the current prohibitionist paradigm Prof Bob Douglas A promise delayed, is a promise denied Bridget Griffiths

‘KPIs’ have little relevance in managing our health system. There is an old saying that for every complex problem there is a solution that is simple, neat and wrong. The modern delusion that the creation of simple “key performance indicators” can solve complex problems like the management of the health system, the performance of our

If you felt lonely sometime in the past decade you were not alone. Loneliness – the disconnect we feel when our desire for interpersonal relationships is not met by those we perceive we currently have – was experienced by three out of ten Australians between 2001 and 2009. Although the subjective nature of this experience

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

2012 marks 20 years since the policy of mandatory detention of asylum seekers was introduced by the Keating Government. Today, more than 4000 asylum seekers are being held in immigration detention, 460 of those are children. A recent parliamentary inquiry report into immigration detention, has called for sweeping changes, including recommendations on detention time limits,

The latest tragic loss of lives as asylum seekers literally risk everything to make a better life for their families highlights both the consequences and the absurdity of some of the policy positions adopted by Australian politicians. Politics, like democracy, often has more to do with compromise than with consistency. But building a nation does

Why can the Pharmacy Guild get away with a deal with the government which limits competition? Rather than admit that it is a union working to maximise the income of its members, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia prefers to position itself as a ”professional association” concerned more with improving standards and delivering benefits for the

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

It is the perceived value of a location, not the cost of construction, that determines the market price for housing. It’s amazing how progressive business has become in Australia. The mining industry’s biggest concern seems to be creating jobs for migrants. The banks just want to help small business grow and the property developers of

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

In our latest TAI newsletter Andrew Macintosh and Deb Wilkinson from the ANU’s Australian Centre for Environmental Law explain the likely threat of the mining boom on the Tarkine. For eight years conservationists have fought to have the Tarkine rainforest in Tasmania included on the National Heritage List. Yet despite its eligibility it is under

The Australia Institute will host a special event on Sunday 18 March with Senator Bob Brown and the author of the new book Rupert Murdoch: An investigation of political power Dr David McKnight. The Institute’s Executive Director Richard Denniss will lead a discussion on ‘media diversity and the power of media moguls’. David McKnight is