Children who use the “but everyone else was doing it” defence don’t usually get very far. I remember my mother retorting: “If everyone else was sticking their head in an oven, would you do that too?” But while sharing risks may not be a great idea for kids, it is, it seems, the most popular way

I think that politicians work hard. I still think that even after Tony Abbott announced that the House of Representatives will sit for only 72 days next year. But the issue isn’t whether they work hard, it’s what they work hard on. Click below to read more of this article published in The Canberra Times.

National Party constituents will be hardest hit by the federal Coalition’s plans to repeal the low income superannuation contribution, according to new analysis by The Australia Institute. The Australia Institute examined 2011 census data to estimate the number of workers earning $37,000 or less who will to be affected by the cut. The findings show

Health and climate impacts suggest unconventional gas is not the best option for Australia’s energy future, according to research released today. The research paper Is fracking good for your health? is co-published by The Australia Institute and The Social Justice Initiative. It examines existing research to analyse the impacts of unconventional gas – coal seam gas (CSG),

The idea that more flexible workplaces promise advantages to all is not new. For decades, Australians have been told that with the aid of new technologies, we can “work smarter, not harder” to achieve a better work-life balance and greater productivity. Goodbye to rigid nine-to-five office-based regimes. Employees will be able to negotiate working arrangements that

Today is the fifth annual Go Home on Time Day, an initiative of The Australia Institute and beyondblue which aims to promote work-life balance and mentally healthy workplaces. Executive Director of The Australia Institute Dr Richard Denniss said it was exciting that more than 350 businesses and organisations have registered to participate and will be

Social policy and conservative debt management policy do not always go well together and a good example is the question of what to do with outstanding student debt. Why would private interests want to buy it? It only increases by the CPI and would perform poorly as a financial investment. A term account with a

Peter Reith, Paul Howes and Innes Willox think lifting the ban on fracking in Victoria will stop gas prices from rising. Sorry guys, but you’re wrong. To think that more gas is going to stop the price going up misunderstands why the gas price is rising.

While capitalism was built on the notion that new companies and industries would destroy old ones, the modern version of capitalism is far more clubby, far more polite and far less innovative. Innovative branding and marketing strategies are okay, but it seems the emergence of whole new industries would be going a bit too far.

Taking a lunch break has become a thing of the past for millions of Aussie bosses and their employees, a new survey has revealed. The survey, conducted by The Australia Institute and beyondblue for this year’s national Go Home on Time Day initiative, found that 3.8 million people routinely don’t take a lunch break, with

Go Home on Time Day – 20 November 2013 – is an annual initiative of The Australia Institute and beyondblue aimed at promoting mentally healthy workplaces and the importance of work/life balance.  beyondblue CEO Kate Carnell AO said something is very wrong in Australia’s workplaces because people are working longer and longer hours, but productivity

Mark and then sync all your calendars – Wednesday 20 November is this year’s national Go Home on Time Day (www.gohomeontimeday.org.au).  Go Home on Time Day is an annual initiative of The Australia Institute, in partnership with beyondblue. The Day is a light-hearted way to start a serious conversation about work-life balance.  Businesses of all

If tax is the price we pay to live in a civilised society it seems that neither of the major parties have high hopes for the communities they say they want to build in northern Australia. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is suggesting that companies based in the Northern Territory should face a reduced company tax

The word productivity will be used countless times in this election campaign but the issue of our investment in science will be lucky to get its 24-hour news cycle in the sun. And while business groups are often critical of governments for being focused on the short term, they are not calling for increased funding

Jobs for young people, housing, marriage equality and university funding are the top issues for young Australians ahead of the federal election, according to research by The Australia Institute. The new survey of more than 800 people aged 17-25 asked respondents to nominate the top five issues that would be likely to sway their vote.

Australian universities have been reaping the benefits from taking international students for years. But is that the way it will always be? What if the countries those students come from turn the tables on the cash strapped western universities and ask them to bid for the work?

Australians are feeling safer and property crime rates are falling, but new research by The Australia Institute suggests election promises and government policies that get ‘tough on crime’ aren’t helping. The report Tough on Crime looks at links between feelings of safety, rates of property crime and the role of crime policies. The property crime

The financial disadvantage Australian women will face in retirement has nothing to do with whether they have a family, according to new research by The Australia Institute. The paper What’s choice got to do with it? found that women retire with substantially less savings than men, even if they don’t have children or care for

Is economics a science? When we teach economics students, we usually tell them that they are learning about “the science of the efficient allocation of scarce resources”. But when we listen to public debate, often economists don’t sound very scientific. While it is often said that science can’t proceed without failure, it’s rare to hear an

More than half of Australians do not trust commercial media, new research by The Australia Institute has found. The new survey of more than 1400 people asked respondents to rate their trust in the ABC and commercial media on a scale from ‘do not trust’ to ‘do trust’. “Many Australians rely on information provided through

More than a million young Australians feel no political party best represents the needs of young people, according to research by The Australia Institute. The new survey of more than 800 respondents aged 17-25 found 47 per cent believe no party best represents them. “This should act as a warning to our politicians that it’s

When it comes to future generations it seems that we can never be too generous. But is this generosity coming at the expense of current generations? In Canberra, when it comes to job losses, it seems the answer is ”yes”. Consider the Australian National University’s approach to its finances. The ANU is owned by taxpayers

Imagine if health and community sector workers wore high-vis vests; our streets, our shopping centres and even our airports would be full of them. We might even begin to think of them as the engine of job creation. But they don’t wear such things and we don’t think such things and the result is a

Young Australians rate trust as the most important factor influencing their vote in the federal election, but more than a third haven’t decided who to vote for, according to research by The Australia Institute. The new survey of more than 800 respondents aged 17-25 found 32 per cent didn’t know or wouldn’t say who they

Do Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey know how badly conservative governments are managing their economies in Europe? While Australia ”struggles” along with gross domestic product growth of just below three per cent and unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent, economic activity in the eurozone declined by 0.2 per cent in the first three months of

It’s often said that the only certain things in life are death and taxes. In reality, of course, if you’re willing to pay lawyers and accountants enough, you might be able to avoid taxes. But no matter how much you spend on doctors, the best you can do is prolong your mortality. And for some,

Australians oppose gambling advertisements during live sport more than advertising for alcohol, a new survey by The Australia Institute reveals. The Australia Institute’s Executive Director Dr Richard Denniss said that nearly two-thirds of Australians oppose the advertising of gambling during sport, while around half oppose alcohol promotion. “It’s been obvious for a while that many

The Opposition has proposed a paid parental leave scheme that offers to replace a woman’s wage if she takes time off following the birth of her child. Tony Abbott expects to raise $3.5 billion with a 1.5 percentage point increase in the company tax rate. But the Australian taxation system is a complicated beast and

In 1987 Prime Minister Bob Hawke promised that by 1990 no child would live in poverty. While those words have haunted him ever since, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals that his government did more to tackle poverty than all subsequent governments. Under the Hawke government, poverty rates dropped when welfare benefits rose

Australia spends more on subsidies to the booming mining industry than it would cost to increase the Newstart Allowance by $50 per week, a new analysis by The Australia Institute reveals. The analysis shows that Australia has the least generous unemployment benefit in the developed world, falling behind countries such as Germany, Spain, America and