Research
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Economics
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- Employment & Unemployment
- Future of Work
- Gender at Work
- Gig Economy
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- Science & Technology
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- Tax, Spending & the Budget
- Unions & Collective Bargaining
- Wages & Entitlements
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August 2025
Fossil-fuelled universities
Scholarships, grants and other links between Australian universities and fossil fuel industries
Advantages of incumbency
MPs receive $1.2 million worth of entitlements each year, and Senators $1.1 million. Over the course of an election cycle, these entitlements are worth at least $3.6 million per MP and $3.2 million per Senator. These resources can be used to boost re-election chances, creating barriers to entry for challengers that help explain why about 9 in 10 incumbents get re-elected.
Submission to the Gas Market Review
Australia Institute research has long documented the comprehensive failure of government policies to prioritise the interests of Australians over multinational gas exporters. Our view is that the incremental technocratic policies of successive governments to solve these issues have failed, and that a fresh approach is needed. The ACTU’s proposal for a 25% tax on gas
Three ways Australia can tax wealth better
Australia taxes wealth very lightly. Imposing a 2% wealth tax on those with net assets over $5 million, an inheritance tax on large estates, and scrapping the CGT discount could raise $70 billion per year.
Submission to the Economic Reform Roundtable
Our submission focuses primarily on the role tax reform should play in the productivity agenda. Tax is an essential element of promoting productivity, primarily because: Additional revenue is required to make productivity-enhancing investments in education, health, infrastructure and other sectors of the economy; Existing tax settings allow for (and in some ways facilitate) growing inequality,
Climate and the Economic Reform Roundtable
The upcoming roundtable appears set to ignore climate change and its impact on the economy. Climate change is already driving up the cost-of-living, and this is only likely to get worse. Climate change will substantially harm productivity, particularly if action is not taken to mitigate its extent and adapt to its impacts.
Solving the crisis: Raising the living standards of Australian workers
Productivity might be the word on everyone’s lips in the lead up to the Albanese Government’s Economic Reform Roundtable however weak productivity isn’t the cause of many of the problems experience by workers in Australia today nor is increasing productivity the solution. Rapid inflation after the pandemic, combined with rising interest rates and slow wage
Tasmanian Integrity Commission: Priority Reforms
This Briefing Paper recommends that the new Tasmanian Parliament address five major problems with the Tasmanian Integrity Commission. Poor funding Limitations caused by the privilege against self-incrimination Rarely publishing reports and never holding public hearings Gaps in jurisdiction, like third parties seeking to corruptly influence public officials Commissioners not limited to one term in office
Submission: The limitations of conservation hunting
The use of hunting as a conservation method, which the Bill proposes, has been generally unsuccessful and sometimes counterproductive. Invasive species policy requires a level of care and rigour that is not reflected in the proposed approach. Additionally, the Bill risks undermining Australian gun control through establishing a “right to hunt” in NSW.
July 2025
Polling – Postal voting
YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Voters were asked if they supported or opposed amending the law to require all postal vote applications to be sent directly to the Australian Electoral Commission, rather than
Impact of gas exports on Australian energy prices
Until the mid-2010s, wholesale gas prices in eastern Australia were low.
Productivity in the Real World
Claims that Australia faces a productivity crisis are overblown. Weak productivity didn’t cause the current problems facing Australian workers (falling real wages, high interest rates, unaffordability of essentials like housing and energy). Nor will higher productivity fix these problems. Faith that higher productivity will automatically trickle down, to be shared by all workers, is unfounded.
Letter to the Minister for the Environment, Senator Murray Watt
On July 2, 2025, the Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Richard Denniss, wrote to the Minister for the Environment and Water, Senator Murray Watt. The letter follows the minister’s provisional approval of the expansion of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas export operation in Western Australia, asking that he make public the conditions imposed on
Polling – Santos
YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology.
Polling – AUKUS
YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,522 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 27 June and 3 July 2025, using an online survey polling methodology.
A Whistleblower Protection Authority for Australia
A Whistleblower Protection Authority is a crucial missing piece in Australia’s anti-corruption laws, and it enjoys the support of 84% of Australians.
Polling – Tasmania Power-sharing
YouGov conducted a survey of 842 Tasmanian voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 12 and 16 June 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements
GST Reform
The Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a broad-based tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. Revenue from the GST was supposed to grow over time, so that state and territory governments would have a reliable income source to help them fund the important services they provide
Polling – Tasmanian revenue
YouGov conducted a survey of 842 Tasmanian voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 12 and 16 June 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. These are the results on potential revenue sources for Tasmania. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements. The
Tasmanian budget: Raising revenue right
The deterioration of the Tasmanian budget means that net debt is expected to reach $10 billion by 2027-28. This paper outlines how the state could increase revenue by auctioning salmon licences, reforming gambling taxes, increasing mineral royalties, and increasing motor vehicle stamp duties and registration fees. If changes to the GST were also made, $11.4
June 2025
Polling – AFL Tasmania
YouGov conducted a survey of 842 Tasmanian voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 12 and 16 June 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements. The margin of error on the effective sample size is 4.2%.
Company Tax and the Productivity Agenda
This submission follows the Productivity Commission’s request for submissions on cutting the company tax. We advance a number of reasons why the company tax should not be cut. We also point out problems with any company tax cut proposal including that the lower tax would mean lower tax refunds for the owners of the company
Polling – Superannuation
YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,535 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 6 and 11 June 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements. The margin of error on the effective sample size is 3.2%.
May 2025
Queensland LNG exports and tax
Over the past 10 years $125 billion worth of liquified natural gas was exported from Gladstone in Queensland.
Betting the house
Climate change is already here and getting worse, causing increasingly damaging disasters, and pushing insurance prices higher.
Polling – Misleading advertising
YouGov conducted a national survey of 1,500 voters on behalf of The Australia Institute between 24 and 29 April 2025, using an online survey polling methodology. Full details are provided in the methodology statement. The poll is compliant with the Australian Polling Council’s requirements. The margin of error on the effective sample size is 3.27%.
Emissions from WA gas exports
Gas exports from WA cause more greenhouse gas emissions than 153 individual countries.
Chinese Foreign Policy Brief
The Chinese foreign policy establishment appear determined to resist Trump’s trade offensive. They have asserted China’s position on Taiwan through both direct pressure and diplomacy, and sought to maintain a productive though defined partnership with Russia as well as amiable working relationships with the rest of Europe. They espoused a vision for a multipolar world organised through multilateral international institutions that better reflect China’s status.
War Crimes: Where do Responsibility and Accountability Start and End?
Are Senior Military Commanders Liable and Culpable?
Macro reforms for housing affordability
Restricting the number of investors in the housing market is possible if there is an increase in interest rates on investment loans. In 2017, this kind of regulation reduced house prices in Australia. Reintroducing this policy could, as interest rates fall, help make housing more affordable for owner-occupiers.