Over the ten years to 2026-27 when the total benefit to companies is estimated at $65 billion, The Australia Institute estimates the big four banks will receive a ‘gift’ of $9,500 million with Commonwealth Bank alone to receive $2,800 million.

Over the last two years the average tax paid by the companies calling for the Senate to pass the tax cuts was 12.35%; half of them paid no tax last year.

The first National Manufacturing Summit was held at Australian Parliament House, Canberra, in June 2017, organised by the Centre for Future Work and the Australia Institute. The event was attended by over 100 delegates from the full range of stakeholders concerned with the future of Australia’s manufacturing sector: including businesses, industry peak bodies, trade unions,

On the 10 year anniversary of Bear Stearns collapse, Wayne Swan, with the GFC+10 project, launches report on executive pay in Australia. GFC+10 is a research program and series of events marking the ten-year anniversary of the Global Financial Crisis. It was launched by then Economic Secretary to the Treasury in the UK, Ed Balls,

ReachTEL conducted a survey of 1,559 residents across the State of Tasmania. The survey was conducted during the night of 5th March 2018. Question: Thinking of housing affordability, which of the following do you think would most help people get into secure housing.

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. We expect the Royal Commission to be swamped by submissions that relate to specific examples of misconduct. Our submission tries to take a step back and consider the extent to which

The Australia Institute made a Submission to Review of the rate of return guidelines. As an appendix we have attached a paper, The equity premium in Australia, that should be read in conjunction with this submission. This paper was prepared for the 2017 Conference of the Society of Heterodox Economists at the University of New

Uber’s rapid growth in point-to-point transportation services has become the most potent symbol of the growth of the so-called “gig economy”: where people perform work on an irregular, on-demand basis, paid by the task, and without the stability or security of traditional paid employment. The expansion of this model has raised concerns regarding the erosion of labour standards and entitlements (including minimum wages, paid leave, and superannuation). This report simulates the net hourly incomes received by UberX drivers in six Australian cities, and finds that they almost certainly earn much less than would be required under relevant minimum wage standards.

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make this submission to the Senate Inquiry on Corporate Tax Avoidance. The issue of tax avoidance by multinational companies has been a research focus of the Institute for some time. While issues of declining PRRT payments and low company tax payments are becoming widely known, particularly due to

The Tasmanian Liberal Party’s new gambling policy would increase taxes for pubs and clubs by around $10 million per year, while cutting taxes for the state’s casinos by $9 million per year, if the gambling industry’s proposed benchmark is used. Taxpayers would also contribute an extra $1.7 million to counter the costs of problem gambling.

Workers in all parts of the economy are confronting twin threats from accelerating changes in technology and automation, and the ongoing shift toward more precarious and irregular forms of work — including “gigs” on digital platforms.  The transportation sector is widely acknowledged to be one of the most susceptible to both of these trends.  The

In recent years, Tasmania has seen economic growth and development. However, the benefits have not been evenly distributed. Hobart has received the lion’s share with less going to the regions. This report focuses on the West & North West region of the state, an area that mostly overlaps with the electorate of Braddon. This electorate

The Australia Institute surveyed 1,417 Australians between 5th and 7th of December 2017 about cutting company tax for large companies.

In October the Senate of Australia launched an important new inquiry into the Future of Work and the Future of Workers.  The terms of reference for the inquiry include: “The future earnings, job security, employment status and working patterns of Australians; The different impact of that change on Australians, particularly on regional Australians, depending on

The Fair Work Commission’s ruling to pre-emptively block industrial action (including restrictions on overtime and a one-day work stoppage) by Sydney-area train workers has brought renewed attention to the legal and administrative barriers which limit collective action by Australian workers.  The Sydney trains experience is a high-profile example of a much larger trend.  Across the

The cost to households of the electricity they use has been a sensitive political issue in Australia for at least the past six or seven years, and seems certain to remain so. That was certainly the case in 2010-11 when the then Labor government was negotiating passage of its package of carbon pricing/emissions trading legislation,

‘Blue carbon’ refers to the carbon storage potential of coastal ecosystems such as mangroves, tidal marshes and seagrass beds. These ecosystems can sequester carbon at higher rates than many terrestrial ecosystems and also play an important role in biodiversity conservation, protecting coastlines and coastal economies. Australia founded the International Partnership for Blue Carbon at the 2015 Paris climate

Key Results The Australia Institute surveyed 1,417 Australians about presents, waste and repairs. Gifts Three quarters of respondents (75%) like to buy Christmas gifts However, 42% would prefer others not to buy them gifts, compared with 47% who disagreed with this idea. Around a third (31%) said they expect to get gifts they won’t use

The workers’ compensation system in NSW has been dramatically scaled back and restructured since the current state government came to office in 2011.  Real benefit payouts have been cut by 30 percent, with the resulting “savings” passed on to employers in lower premiums (down 40 percent over the past decade).  Yet injured workers continue to

2017 marks the ninth annual Go Home On Time Day (GHOTD), an initiative of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute aimed at highlighting the incidence of overwork among Australians, including excessive overtime (often unpaid). To investigate the prevalence of overwork and unpaid overtime, we commissioned a survey of over 1400 Australians on the incidence

This paper reviews the implications of the latest Trump tax plan for Australia; in particular that part of the plan that involves changes to the company tax arrangements. The present plan would bring the tax rate down to 20 per cent at the national level. With state taxes, that means that the total American rate

Stopping the NAIF loan to Adani and redirecting it to other industries makes good sense economically, environmentally and politically. The Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility (NAIF) is a federal agency that provides concessional finance. Adani has applied for close to $1 billion in concessional finance from NAIF for its coal mine and rail project in Queensland.

The Australian government appears to be actively soliciting financing from foreign governments and investors towards Adani’s coal mine and rail line, projects it plans to subsidise.

Salmon farming is a hot topic in Tasmania. The industry is responsible for over 2% of Gross State Product and over 1% of employment, including considerable full-time employment. This economic contribution is due to substantial growth. The industry tripled in size over the past decade, and plans to double again in the 20 years to 2030. The industry

The Minerals Council of Australia featured in 1,594 Australian news stories in the last year mentioning coal. This was three times more than iron ore, far more than any other mineral. Yet only 16 of the MCA’s 45 members mine coal at all. Just 3 are entirely focused on thermal coal. The biggest members, BHP

The Australia Institute made this submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee’s inquiry into consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sector. Our main concern in this submission is to look at the deeper issues and ask what are the forces that drive ‘bad behaviour’ in the finance and insurance sectors. We start with