The decades-long push to make Australia’s universities more ‘business like’ has had scandalous consequences. The remedy is to make university governance more transparent, democratic, and accountable. The most effective way to enact this change would be to amend the establishing Acts that give universities their public mandate.

Giving and receiving gifts is one of the most cherished Christmas traditions. The polling conducted for this report shows that more than three in four Australians (77%) like buying gifts for people at Christmas. However, more than half (52%) would prefer it if people did not buy them gifts for them at Christmas. One quarter

Extreme heat is the number one cause of weather-related illness and death in all parts of Australia, except Tasmania. Older, poorer, and sicker people are more vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat. This report identifies the locations around Australia in which the greatest number of vulnerable people will be affected by extreme heat. Targeting these areas for support will ensure the greatest number of vulnerable people are helped during periods of extreme heat.

As Australia’s cities continue to grow, policies that incentivise more people to walk, cycle, and ride electric ‘micro-mobility’ devices could help reduce congestion. However, less than 1% of federal road funding is spent on active transportation. Unless funding is increased, Australia will continue to lack the infrastructure needed to reduce car dependency.

Australia’s electoral participation is relatively good, though there is significant room for improvement, including doing better to count the votes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and making citizenship more accessible for Australian residents.

Housing cooperatives run on a non-profit, collective ownership model in which the costs of buying or building a dwelling are shared, and decisions about how it is run are made based on a ‘one member, one vote’ system. This means that tenants who buy into a cooperative get the right to have a say in the housing they pay for.

Australia’s subsidies to fossil fuel producers and major users from all governments totalled $14.5 billion in 2023–24, increase of 31% on the $11.1 billion recorded in 2022–23.

The NSW education system is increasingly inequitable. Private schools receive public funding and tax concessions that have enabled multimillion dollar developments and salaries in excess of $1 million, while public schools struggle.

Australia’s meat processing and agricultural industries are employing an increasing number of temporary workers on the PALM Visa scheme from Pacific Island nations and Timor-Leste.

This joint submission by the Centre for Future Work and the Nordic Policy Centre argues for immediate further reform to bring Australia’s Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme up to international best practice standards.

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.

The problems attached to over-use of consultants are becoming clearer. The experience in New South Wales accords with the national experience: dependency on consultants hollows out public sector capacity and leads to bad government decisions.

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Syngas and Power Generation, Stage 1 Commercial Development, NeuRizer Urea Project, which is currently open for public comment under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act Public Portal.

In 2022–23, Australian Federal and state governments provided a total of $11.1 billion worth of spending and tax breaks to assist fossil fuel industries.

The over-use of consultancies has corroded Australian democracy. It hollows out public sector capacity and leads to bad government decisions.