Three key changes are required to the CC Act and Bill – to ensure the definition of ‘corrupt conduct’ is widened sufficiently to include all appropriate activities, and to meet the high standards and effectiveness of the respected NSW ICAC.

Successful Homeshare programs in the balance as NDIS roll-out offers new risks and opportunities. A new report from The Australia Institute, released today at the Council on the Ageing national housing policy forum, identifies semi-formal shared living opportunities for older Australians and people with disabilities. —Full report available in PDF below— Homeshare models provide free

Amidst increasing concerns among economists and budget forecasters about the historic stagnation of Australian wages, the latest GDP statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics have confirmed that the proportion of national economic output that is paid to workers has reached an all-time low.

Is Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party anti-Asian?  Just how much has One Nation changed since Pauline Hanson first sat in the Australian Parliament two decades ago?  This report reviews One Nation’s statements of the 1990s and the current policies of the party.  It concludes that One Nation’s broad policies on immigration and multiculturalism remain essentially

New polling from The Australia Institute shows the majority of Australians think US President Donald Trump will not honour a deal to take refugees from Manus Island and Nauru to be resettled in the United States. Half of respondents (51%) disagreed with the statement ‘Donald Trump will follow through on the agreement’ while 28% agreed

Developing northern Australia is a priority for the Turnbull Government, like many governments before it. The focus of these efforts is often on capital-intensive major projects such as irrigation dams or mining infrastructure. Such investments generally provide terrible returns to the taxpayer, generate few jobs and fail to ‘develop the North’. For example, the Ord

As a regional community, Tasmanians have historically enjoyed higher rates of home ownership than their mainland counterparts. However, as wages continue to stagnate, housing prices start to increase, and the State attracts more investment, the number of Tasmanians owning and occupying their own homes is falling.

A new report conducted by the country’s largest union, the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), in conjunction with The Australia Institute has revealed high-levels of exploitation and human rights abuses suffered by low-wage workers involved in the overseas production of every-day medical goods used by Australians. 

Research from the Australia institute has calculated the impact of the recent Fair Work Commission decision to cut penalty rates on the Commonwealth Budget. The paper from Richard Denniss, Chief Economist at The Australia Institute, found reduced income tax collection from lower wages as well as greater welfare assistance for low income earners is, based on

Today is International Women’s Day, a time to reflect on the continued inequality faced by women — including in the world of work.  Traditional measures of the “gender pay gap” indicate that women earn around 17 percent less than men, in ordinary pay in equivalent full-time positions.  But the situation is worse than that, because

In the 2016 budget the government announced that it would close carbon tax compensation to new recipients of welfare payments. This would save the government $1.4 billion over the forward estimates, by reducing the income of some of the poorest Australians by around $10 per fortnight.  This cut was introduced to the Parliament in September

In the context of One Nation’s presence in the Australian Senate, indications of increased voter support for the party and wider populist trends in the United States and Europe, Australians need to understand One Nation’s world view – especially where the party’s ideas come from.  It is important to chart One Nation’s ideological and political

Economic insecurity is one of the greatest factors inhibiting victims of domestic violence from escaping violent situations at home.  To address that problem unions and employers have developed paid domestic violence leave provisions which allow victims to attend legal proceedings, medical appointments, or other events or activities related to the violence they have experienced, without

The ABC is not biased against business according to the recent ABC Editorial Review of business and economics coverage. Far from being anti-business, research released today by The Australia Institute finds that the ABC’s ample coverage of business and economics skews towards big business. Big business receives three to five times more ABC coverage than

Australia sends asylum seekers to offshore camps wherethey are detained indefinitely and subjected to well documented abuses, in violation of their human rights. The Australian Government outsources the operations at the camps, and Spanish company Ferrovial has responsibility for the system’s largest operational contracts, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Broadspectrum. Investors in Ferrovial, including the Norwegian

The Australia Institute has an ongoing program of research into policy options around the ABC. Several of our research papers relate to the ABC’s operations in rural and regional Australia and the ABC Charter. Most recently, polling we commissioned in January 2016 shows strong public support in Tasmania for increased funding for the ABC in

Since our last submission we have published a research report relevant to this inquiry, No politics at Aunty’s table: Depoliticising the governance of the ABC. This report addresses the issue of political interference in the governance structures of the ABC, including its charter. A copy has been uploaded with this submission. The Australia Institute advocates

The Australia Institute submission to the Economics Legislation Committee for its inquiry into the Budget Savings (Omnibus) Bill 2016 critiques the proposed savings on the grounds that they will increase inequality and harm innovation.

New research released by the Australia Institute today shows that government moves to cut unemployment benefits will put recipients at 32% below the poverty line. The research also highlights staggering inequality in Australia where the 10 richest Australian families have the same wealth as the poorest 3.9 million Australians combined.

The Australia Institute commissioned polling on a number of issues relating to refugee issues. In brief:  –          61% said that Australia should accept New Zealand’s offer to take 150 refugees from Manus Island and Nauru. This included 58% of Coalition voters and 62% of Labor voters. –          66% said it should be legal for doctors

A reveiw of OECD data of the relationship between living standards and cuts in company tax rates compared with the provision of better education services.

The Coalition’s proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate will result in a significant loss of tax revenue and, in turn, will have a significant impact on the budget balance. The government has argued that the loss in tax revenue will be offset, in part, by the increase in economic activity that they believe will

A new report analysing findings from across several corporate regulatory bodies and related agencies finds widespread wrong-doing in the Australian private sector.  Meanwhile the six major regulatory bodies and other agencies have seen 3,926 staff cut (or 14.9%) between the 2013-14 and 2015-16 budgets – meaning there are less cops on the corporate beat. The

A new report from The Australia Institute will be launched today at the ABC Friends National Campaign forum – ‘What do Australians expect from their ABC?’  – Download full report below –  The report ‘No Politics at Aunty’s Table’ analyses the governance of the ABC, how some aspects have become political battlefields and ways to

This report by Catalyst Australia looks at the representation of women in leadership at companies included in the ASX50. This index lists Australia’s largest publicly-owned companies that are considered leaders in their industry. This research assesses the ASX50 companies and gender equality in four areas: boards, management, policies and practices, and the gender pay gap.

Public Broadcaster reforms could deliver an ad-free SBS and digital expansion for the ABC. As outgoing ABC chief Mark Scott raised the idea of an ABC-SBS merger, a new report by The Australia Institute explores the risks and benefits of reforms to public broadcasting. “Public support for the ABC and SBS is as strong as