A recent Newspoll survey, commissioned by the Institute, reveals that 62 per cent of Australians believe that they cannot afford to buy everything they really need. Taking into consideration the fact that Australia is one of the richest countries in the world and that Australians today have income three times higher than in 1950, it

Duty free stores in Australia have tax exempt status, on goods such as tobacco and alcohol, goods which the government places high taxes on to create a disincentive. The Australian government also loses over $100 million per annum through duty free stores, disproportionately to the wealthiest 20% who can afford to travel overseas. This piece

High-income earners over $50,000 for individuals and $100, 000 for families pay a Medicare Levy Surcharge of 1 %( $500 and $1000 respectively). High-income earners can be exempted from the surcharge if they have private insurance, insurance companies exploit this and provide policies with annual costs under the respective $500 and $1000. The insurance policies

The world’s scientists have warned that the nations of the world will need to shift to a low-carbon future in order to avoid dangerous changes to the global climate. Even the Federal Environment Minister admits that Australia will need to cut greenhouse gas emission by 60 per cent or more. This report is ground breaking

A paper that argues that models projecting the cost of emissions abatement (including the IPCC’s own models) do not take adequate account of low- or zero-cost opportunities for abatement, technological changes or the impact of government policies, including a possible carbon tax.

Throughout the Western world, the changing nature of families has led to a highly charged debate and when commentators talk of how families have changed they usually compare family structures now to those of the 1950s and 1960s. Families are changing, but for reasons far more complex than declining moral values and rising selfish individualism.

The structure of the tax system can play an important role in either protecting or causing harm to the natural environment. This report examines existing taxes, charges and related incentives that encourage either environmental protection or degradation in each of the areas of transport, stationary energy, land, water, forests and waste. The study also considers

Against the approximately $1.1 billion contribution koalas make to Australia’s tourism industry, this article proposes leveraging enduring international interest in koalas with proposed conservation efforts and koala culls on Kangaroo Island to create a koala hunting industry that would contribute further to the inbound tourism sector.

The industry in Australia and throughout the world is dominated by a handful of multinationals that have obtained highly favourable arrangements from governments. This paper analyses the structure, ownership, energy costs and greenhouse gas emissions of the aluminium smelting industry to examine the likelihood of its relocating offshore and test the consequences, both economic and

The ‘ageing crisis’ is founded on three main assumptions: that older people are a social and economic burden; that population ageing will result in a serious dependency ratio imbalance; and, that there is a close correspondence between the size of the aged population and increased public expenditure. This paper argues that the transition to an

This article explains some of the ways in which regional communities benefit and could continue to benefit from a shift from non-renewable to renewable energy generation, based on the assumption that the decline of non-renewables is inevitable and therefore we should be proactive. Examples show how sustainable energy projects create long term job opportunities and

Climate change is expected to have severe adverse impacts on the majority of Commonwealth countries, especially developing country members. Australia has displayed a callous disregard for the future well-being of the poorest and most vulnerable members of the Commonwealth.

A report last year by the Allen Consulting Group has played a pivotal role in reinforcing perceptions that cutting greenhouse gases would result in large economic costs and extensive job losses, especially in regional and rural Australia. The first part of this paper exposes a number of serious errors in the Allen Consulting report on

This paper documents the development of the vertical and horizontal integration of the healthcare services sector. It argues that in the Australian context, the private (including the corporate) provision and ownership of health service facilities is more costly than public provision. The paper also demonstrates that, contrary to popular belief, competition does not necessarily benefit

This paper shows that instead of encouraging private provision, concessions for private health insurance have been a financial windfall for wealthy households. The existing cash incentives and tax rebates for private health insurance are in urgent need of reform.

Proceedings of a conference organised by Manning Clark House and The Australia Institute, held on 26 July 2001. The paper includes nine presentations by speakers at the conference, and is edited by Pamela Kinnear.

This study considers the rationale for estimating tax expenditures, and the conceptual basis for measurement. It assesses the current approach to accounting for the surcharge in the TES against international practice and against the stated aims of tax expenditure reporting in Australia.

Submission No.2: Full fee-paying students and standards

This is an exploratory study of social scientists’ perceptions and experiences of academic freedom in the new commercial realities of Australian higher education. Focusing specifically on the social sciences this study gives cause for concern about the future of academic freedom.

The system of labour market statistics in Australia is in urgent need of reform. In addition to calling for the collection of new data on the desired amount of work for all workers, this report outlines the benefits of work sharing, and suggests mechanisms for achieving a fairer distribution of work.

This study examines the different form of industry assistance provided by government in Australia; assesses the extent to which information is publicly available; outlines the criteria upon which assistance is made available, and evaluates the monitoring procedures adopted by governments where assistance is provided.

This study breaks new ground by examining how the benefits of tax concessions for health expenditures, such as the rebate for health insurance, have been distributed amongst taxpayer income groups. It shows for the first time the value of the tax relief arising from the Medicare levy surcharge for those with private health insurance.

This paper is a philosophical investigation of the mutual obligation principle and its application to current welfare policy.

This paper looks back at the achievements and failures of Landcare after ten years. The authors put forward a set of proposals for the future that goes much further than anything previously suggested.

This paper examines the relationship between recessions and the size and duration of long-term unemployment. The results should leave us in no doubt that just a few poor years of economic growth have very significant medium-term implications for long-term unemployment.

This discussion paper is part of the Australia Institute’s work program on measuring quality of life. The Institute has formed a collaborative partnership with Newcastle City Council to build an indicator series against which the Newcastle community’s progress towards sustainability can be measured.

The Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) was sold in 1994 by the Commonwealth and became a privately owned company, tasked with the processing of blood. Since its privatisation it has been accused of allowing hepatitis-C and CJD to infect the blood. This document focuses on the $400 million given to CSL by the Commonwealth between 1994

The Prime Minister has given a guarantee that charities will be no worse off under the GST. This paper argues that this guarantee can only be met if substantial changes are made to the definition of what constitutes a charity and its “non-commercial” activities.

Submission No. 4 to the Senate Environment References Committee Inquiry into Australia’s Response to Global Warming