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Economics
- Banking & Finance
- Employment & Unemployment
- Future of Work
- Gender at Work
- Gig Economy
- Industry & Sector Policies
- Inequality
- Infrastructure & Construction
- Insecure & Precarious Work
- Labour Standards & Workers' Rights
- Macroeconomics
- Population & Migration
- 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 2008
Fixing the Floor in the ETS
Emissions trading will impose a ‘floor’ below which emissions cannot fall as well as a ‘cap’ above which emissions cannot rise. When the government has decided on an acceptable level of pollution, it will issue a corresponding number of pollution permits. If households use less energy and create less pollution, they will simply free up
October 2008
Agriculture and Emissions Trading: The impossible dream?
This report argues that the Rudd Government should not include agriculture in the upcoming Emissions Trading Scheme because of the inherent difficulties in accurately measuring emissions from the agriculture sector. Instead, it outlines a number of alternative options for achieving agriculture emissions abatement.
The case for a new top tax rate
Discusses the benefits of introducing a new tax threshold specifically aimed at very high income earners. It argues that the current top tax rate of 45 per cent, which applies to incomes of over $180,000 per year, is inadequate in a corporate environment where CEOs can be paid very large salaries indeed.
The role of a higher age pension in stimulating the economy
When the economy is slowing governments can stimulate economic activity by spending more money, thereby increasing the level of demand for goods and services. The Commonwealth Government could start injecting tens of millions of dollars into the economy each week simply by increasing the size of a payment such as the age pension.
The tax treatment of capital investments in renewable energy
Examines the treatment of capital expenses in the renewable energy sector with particular emphasis on the need to introduce accelerated depreciation provisions to help encourage new investment in alternative sources of power. Accelerated depreciation refers to the capacity for selected industries to claim bigger tax deductions for the cost of their investments in new equipment
September 2008
Who are the (un)intended losers from emissions trading?
The emission trading scheme will provide compensation for the price rise for final users. However such policies do not apply to state governments, local governments, the community sector, and the federal government. In total the ETS would cost these public sectors $3.5b annually.
August 2008
The Impact of an Emissions Trading Scheme on State Government Budgets
The Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) places a $20 per tonne of CO2 price on carbon pollution. While the government advocates schemes to help businesses pay this increase, no such scheme has been passed onto the states and territories. The states and territories would pay a projected $1.5b, or 15,000 teaching, policing and nursing jobs.
June 2008
Submission to the Productivity Commission Inquiry into Paid Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave
Our submission supports a minimum of 26 weeks paid leave. This would be funded through a mix of employment related and government transfer payments to families. The government transfers would be available to working and non-working families while employment related entitlements would apply to working women and men.
May 2008
Choice Overload: Australians coping with financial decisions
This report investigates the increasing complexity of financial decisions. It finds that many Australians believe that financial investments and superannuation are too confusing. The paper surveys Australian attitudes to personal finance and makes several recommendations for government, industry and individuals.
Where does the buck stop? Community attitudes to over-lending and over-spending
There have been 12 successive years of interest rate rises, and a 12.5% rise from 2007-2008 in debt to banks, valued at $762b. This is practically bad with 18-27 years old that take out 1/3 of credit cards and account for 1/3 defaults. As private debt is now 156% of GDP majority of people believe that banks allowed
January 2008
October 2007
The State of the Australian Middle Class
There is a widespread view that the middle class in Australia is doing it tough, that they are finding it increasingly difficult to maintain a decent standard of living and are suffering from mortgage stress. Indeed, some media reports have announced the end of the middle class dream. This paper tests a number of these
Climate Change and Australian Coastal Shipping
This report investigates how coastal shipping compares to the other major freight transport modes in terms of energy and emission intensity. It further considers the extent to which increasing shipping’s share of the domestic freight task could reduce Australia’s emissions.
July 2007
June 2007
University Capture. Australian universities and the fossil fuel industry.
In recent years, universities have been at the centre of a vigorous debate about the role of higher education in society. In particular, concerns have been raised about the effects of commercialisation of Australian universities on academic freedom and the quality of teaching. This paper explores the increasingly close relationships between Australian universities and the
February 2007
Mobile phones and the consumer kids
A quarter of children ages 6-14 own phones, 1/3 of them pay for this phone with their own money. Children often buy phones for aesthetic reasons not for safety. Corporations have been trying to sell to children, and this has resulted in financial strain on them.
January 2007
December 2006
Letting Children be Children: Stopping the sexualisation of children in Australia
This paper explains why the current patchwork of media and advertising regulation is failing to prevent the premature sexualisation of Australian children. A number of improvements are proposed based on a review of current regulatory arrangements for the areas most responsible for the sexualisation of children: girls’ magazines, television and outdoor advertising, and television programs.
October 2006
Corporate Paedophilia: Sexualisation of children in Australia
This report gives the first comprehensive overview of the ways in which Australian children are being sexualised by advertising and marketing from a very young age. It also describes in detail the risks children face as a result of this corporate paedophilia.
August 2006
July 2006
School Vouchers: An evaluation of their impact on education outcomes
There has been a growing push for the Federal Government to introduce a universal school voucher scheme that results in government funding being provided on a per student basis to parents, which they could then use at a public or private school of their choice. This paper evaluates the available evidence on school voucher schemes
State and territory tourism assistance: A zero sum game
This piece focuses on domestic tourism assistance and event attraction within the tourism industry of states and territories. While the taxpayer spends over $245m annually on assistances to the tourism industry there is very little return. The only reasons that states and territories engage in the industry is because it is perceived as a zero
June 2006
ABC Learning Centres: A case study of Australia’s largest child care corporation
Concerns have been raised about the quality of care provided by corporate chain child care centres (see Australia Institute Discussion Paper 84). ABC Learning Centres is the largest corporate child care chain in Australia, providing more than 20 per cent of all long day care places. This paper reports the results of interviews carried out
May 2006
Competitiveness and Carbon Pricing: Border adjustments for greenhouse policies
This paper outlines a radical new proposal to pay rebates to export industries adversely affected by greenhouse gas emission taxes thereby preserving the international competitiveness of energy-intensive exporters whilst maintaining the carbon price signal with the domestic economy. Implementation of the proposal would thus effectively remove the main argument used against the ratification of the
April 2006
Child Care Quality in Australia
Recent public debate about the child care system in Australia has focused primarily on the availability and affordability of child care. This paper considers an aspect of child care that has received much less attention, that of the quality of the care provided. Results from a national survey of long day care centre staff suggest
Equality of Opportunity in Australia: Myth and reality
Public policy debate about equality of opportunity in Australia currently centres around the distribution of disposable incomes and the role played by taxes and transfers. In contrast, this paper presents the available evidence on underlying structural inequalities of education, health, employment, housing and location. Based on international evidence, the paper argues that governments which address
March 2006
Drug Law Reform: Beyond Prohibition
Prohibition has failed to significantly reduce illicit drug markets and has caused greater harm to society than it has saved. The evidence shows that a treatment-orientated approach to drug issues would be far more effective in reducing drug-related harm.