Research
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Economics
- Banking & Finance
- Employment & Unemployment
- Future of Work
- Gender at Work
- Gig Economy
- Industry & Sector Policies
- Inequality
- Infrastructure & Construction
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- Labour Standards & Workers' Rights
- Macroeconomics
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- Public Sector, Procurement & Privatisation
- Retirement
- Science & Technology
- Social Security & Welfare
- Tax, Spending & the Budget
- Unions & Collective Bargaining
- Wages & Entitlements
- Young Workers
- Climate & Energy
- Democracy & Accountability
- Environment
- International & Security Affairs
- Law, Society & Culture
November 2023
Polling: Cost of Living
The Australia Institute surveyed a sample of 1,379 Australians about their wages growth and the cost of living over the past year.
Jobs and Trees
Forestry represents just 1% of Tasmanian jobs and Tasmanian forestry production is largely based on plantation timber rather than native forest logging.
Securing transparency and diversity in political finance
Targeted reforms are needed to introduce transparency and diversity into federal political finance: disclosing political contributions in real time, publishing ministers’ diaries, stopping the very wealthy from dominating election spending, making public funding accessible to new entrants and restricting corporate cash-for-access payments.
Short Changed
This year marks the fifteenth annual Go Home on Time Day (GHOTD), an initiative of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute that shines a spotlight on the maldistribution of working hours and the scale of unpaid overtime worked by Australians.
It’s Time
Tasmania’s patchwork approach to marine management should be replaced with an integrated approach.
Submission: An independent ABC for a strong democracy
Australia’s public broadcasters (the ABC and SBS) should remain independent and free from political interference.
Polling: Climate Change and Health
The Australia Institute surveyed a sample of 1,535 Australians about their concerns regarding the impacts on human health from fossil fuel projects.
Research Misconduct in Australia: Part 2
Australia needs a research integrity watchdog, but what would a best-practice regulatory body look like? Using world-leading examples from five nations, this report makes nine recommendations for the design of an independent research integrity watchdog that would enable Australia to effectively tackle research misconduct.
Research Misconduct in Australia: Part 1
Australia has no independent body to investigate allegations of misconduct in scientific research, unlike most countries with developed research sectors. Research institutes largely investigate allegations themselves, leading to potential conflicts of interest. A research watchdog is needed to ensure the integrity of Australian science.
Small Fish, Big Pond
Australian Bureau of Statistics data suggests that salmon farming in Tasmania provides between 1,100 and 1,700 jobs, less than 1% of the state’s employment.
Ending native forest logging without market mechanisms
Logging in Tasmania’s native forests should cease as soon as possible. The transition away from logging should not involve the use of carbon credits; the examples in this paper show that market mechanisms are at best a distraction from, and at worst a hinderance to, an effective transition.
Gas Bagging
Despite the claims to the contrary by the Northern Territory government, development of the Beetaloo Basin’s gas resources will be of little benefit to Territorians. Modelling used by the NT government itself shows that the development of the Beetaloo Basin will not diversify the NT economy, aid the transition to net zero emissions, provide cheap
October 2023
The economic impacts of gas development in the Northern Territory
Gas development has few economic benefits beyond those that flow to the gas industry itself. The industry is a small employer, systematic non-payer of tax and crowds out other industries.
Majority Support for water buybacks across Basin States, Party Lines and Regional Australia
Under the Restoring our Rivers Bill 2023, changes proposed by the Government include a return to water buybacks, which had been capped by the previous Liberal-National Government in favour of subsidies for water-saving projects. The Australia Institute has found that the use of buybacks, additional water recovery to compensate for Basin Plan delays and reducing
Submission: NSW Net Zero Future Bill 2023
The Bill is unlikely to facilitate actions that would result in genuine emissions reductions in NSW, including elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, a moratorium on coal and gas development and decarbonisation of industry and transport. While the goals of the Bill are laudable, fiscal responsibility is a subjective guiding principle and open to creative interpretation
Perceptions of Corruption
New research from the Australia Institute finds Australians consider a wide range of government behaviours as corruption, including cronyism, political expenditure and hobbling or ignoring integrity watchdogs.
Misinformation and the referendum
New research from the Australia Institute shows more than 60 per cent of ‘No’ voters are concerned about the misinformation and disinformation that circulated on social media during the referendum campaign, with more than 80 per cent of that cohort wanting to see truth in political advertising laws in place before the federal election, expected in 2025.
University Councils, Transparency and the Adelaide University Merger
Howard-era reforms to higher education have led to a lack of transparency and democratic accountability within the councils that govern Australia’s public universities.
Submission to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023
Experts from the Centre for Future Work recently made a submission to the Senate committee studying the “Closing Loopholes” bill, which would make several reforms to the Fair Work Act.
Consultants: Structurally Unsound
The audit, assurance and consulting industry has failed to meet expectations. The industry needs clear standards, better monitoring and strong sanctions for misconduct.
A Better Stage 3
The Stage 3 cuts are a high-cost, inequitable policy.
Why the Australia Institute Supports The Voice to Parliament
The Australia Institute is a longstanding supporter of a constitutionally enshrined Voice, as articulated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Research is the cornerstone of the Australia Institute’s work. There is a significant body of research—led by First Nations people—about the Voice to Parliament, where it came from, how it is likely to work,
September 2023
The Hidden Political Expenditure of Australian Corporations
Publicly-listed companies in Australia disclose little information about their political expenditure, with few disclosing lobbying spending or payments to trade associations
Submission: 2022 Victorian State Election Inquiry
Truth in political advertising laws are recommended, supported, and overdue in Victoria.
Submission: Money and Power in Victorian Elections
In 2018, the Victorian Parliament made major changes to electoral law in the state, including introducing real-time disclosure of donation, banning foreign donations and limiting anonymous donations.
Going Backwards
The disability support workforce is central to the effectiveness and sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Profit-Price Inflation: Theory, International Evidence, and Policy Implications
New research confirms that corporate profits in Australia, despite recent moderation, remain well above historic norms, and must fall further in order to allow a rebuilding of real wages in Australia that have been badly damaged by recent inflation.
Submission: Climate Change Authority Modelling
Avoiding the worst impacts of climate change demands urgent action. This urgency ought to be driven by fulsome and transparent information. Current economic modelling by the CCA could be an important contribution to this task, if done properly and shared with all.
Food Waste in Australia
Australia wastes 7.6m tonnes of food each year, costing households $19.3 billion.
Climate of the Nation 2023
The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report provides a comprehensive account of Australian attitudes towards climate change, its causes and impacts, and the integrity of Australia’s current and proposed climate solutions.