War in the Middle East will likely increase global energy prices. Australian Government choices will determine how hard this price spike hits Australian households, how huge gas export company profits are and how much tax revenue Australia will collect.

Participants in Australia’s temporary worker program for the Pacific and Timor-Leste – the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (PALM) scheme – generate almost $1 billion in economic value, but less than $200 million ends up going home with them. This submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Migration’s Inquiry into the value of skilled migration to

The Triple J Hottest 100 featured fewer Australian songs in 2024 than in any year since 1995. Australians are spending more on music than ever before, but less is going to Australian artists. Policy support matters – Australia’s arts funding is among the lowest in the developed world. US artists dominate Australian charts, but the

Australia’s recorded music industry is making more money, but less of it is staying in Australia. Fewer new artists are achieving lasting success because, on streaming services, they must compete on an uneven playing field with international and established acts. This paper suggests two ways that new artists could be better supported: by supporting local

Poker machines are more likely to be located in areas of Australia in which at least 10% of the population is Indigenous. The exception to this national pattern is Western Australia, where poker machines are confined to one casino. As losses from pokies disproportionately affect Indigenous Australians, stronger poker machine regulation would significantly benefit Indigenous

State government cultural funding is dependent on federal revenue, yet Australia’s Federal Government raises little tax revenue by international standards. Arts advocates and state leaders should be vocal in urging the Federal Government to raise more revenue. Raising the State’s GST revenue to match economic growth since 2001 could put $76 million per year into

Scholarships, grants and other links between Australian universities and fossil fuel industries

Australians gamble more than any another nation. Gambling starts well before the age of 18 – almost one in three (30%) 12-17-year-olds gamble. This increases to almost half (46%) of 18-19-year-olds, and these habits persist into adulthood. By highlighting the high rates of gambling among young Australians, this paper shows the need for greater regulations

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.

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.

Australia has a much higher poverty rate among people aged over 65 than Sweden and Norway. Unlike Australia, Sweden and Norway’s robust public pension systems ensure retirement security. Australia could reduce levels of poverty in retirement by increasing spending on the Age Pension. This could be funded by reducing the inequitable tax concessions on superannuation given to high income earners.

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.

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.

The Australia Institute is grateful for the opportunity to make a submission to the review of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023. The ACT Government and Minister for Human Rights Tara Cheyne should be commended for introducing this bill.

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.

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.

With exports to key markets declining, Indonesia’s huge coal industry is pinning its hopes on expansion of domestic coal use. Current policy would triple numbers of coal-fired power stations and ignore Indonesia’s huge renewable energy potential.