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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
September 2023
Going Backwards
The disability support workforce is central to the effectiveness and sustainability of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).
Profit-Price Inflation: Theory, International Evidence, and Policy Implications
New research confirms that corporate profits in Australia, despite recent moderation, remain well above historic norms, and must fall further in order to allow a rebuilding of real wages in Australia that have been badly damaged by recent inflation.
Food Waste in Australia
Australia wastes 7.6m tonnes of food each year, costing households $19.3 billion.
Climate of the Nation 2023
The Australia Institute’s annual Climate of the Nation report provides a comprehensive account of Australian attitudes towards climate change, its causes and impacts, and the integrity of Australia’s current and proposed climate solutions.
NeuRizer underground coal gasification project – economic considerations
The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the Syngas and Power Generation, Stage 1 Commercial Development, NeuRizer Urea Project, which is currently open for public comment under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act Public Portal.
August 2023
The Case for Investing in Public Schools
Education has long been recognised as a vital determinant of both personal life chances and broader economic and social performance.
The Tip of the Iceberg: Measuring unemployment in Australia
The Reserve Bank of Australia’s decisions on interest rate increases rely on the concept of balancing inflation and unemployment.
Get Your Skates On: Tasmania’s Next State of the Environment Report
Tasmania has not published a State of the Environment Report since 2009. Nationally, alarming declines of natural and cultural values are underway. Without a state-focused analysis, Tasmanians are in the dark about the scale and detail of concerns and government decision-makers are flying blind.
Emissions from the Tamboran NT LNG facility
The NT LNG facility aims to produce up 20 million tonnes of LNG per year for export using gas fracked from the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Money Talks: The Australia-America Economic Relationship – Where From and Where To
The Australia-America economic relationship is one of the world’s most consequential relationships, worth over $2 trillion, yet few understand its depth and scale.
Manufacturing the Energy Revolution
Australia needs to respond quickly to powerful new incentives for sustainable manufacturing now on offer in the U.S. and several other industrial countries, or risk being cut out of lucrative new markets for manufactured products linked to renewable energy systems.
July 2023
Public Attitudes on Issues in Higher Education
Stronger public universities are vital to the success of dynamic, innovative economies, and more inclusive labour markets. But decades of fiscal restraint and corporatization have eroded the democratic governance and equitable delivery of public higher education in Australia. There are widespread concerns among both university staff and the broader Australian community regarding many higher education issues: including funding, governance, the insecurity of work in universities, the quality of education, and the affordability of attending university.
June 2023
Off the hook?
After decades of ignoring evidence of overfishing, the Tasmanian Government is finally playing catch-up on the state’s depleted fish stocks, resetting fishery rules in the context of out-of-date legislation and the absence of relevant policies.
Crying fowl
Native bird hunting benefits few South Australians and imposes costs on many. Only 5% have ever shot ducks or quail, and of those people, just 40% intend to do so again. 76% of South Australians support a ban, including 48% who “strongly” support the idea. The economic impact of ending native bird hunting would be
May 2023
Unacceptable Risks
The gigification of care is creating insecure work, undermining gender inequality and damaging workforce sustainability.
Commonwealth Budget 2023-24
The Commonwealth government’s 2023-24 budget reveals a progressive government seeking to help lower paid workers and those struggling to pay bills, support public health care, and pursue investments towards a net zero economy. But it is very much a first step, and leaves much more work to be done to repair past harms done to workers, low-income Australians, public services and infrastructure, and the environment.
Fossil fuel subsidies in Australia 2023
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.
RBA Review a Missed Opportunity
The Commonwealth Treasury has released the report of a three-person panel charged with reviewing the structure, governance, and effectiveness of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Treasurer Jim Chalmers accepted in principle all 51 of the panel’s recommendations, ranging from creating a separate board to make decisions on interest rates, to giving the Bank a simpler dual mandate to pursue both price stability and full employment.
Polling – Housing Policy
Key results The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,002 Australians about their attitudes towards the Federal Government’s response to the housing crisis. The results show that: Two in three Australians (68%) disagree that the Federal Government is doing enough to tackle the housing crisis, including 65% of Labor voters, and 83% of
April 2023
Inclusive and Sustainable Employment for Jobseekers Experiencing Disadvantage
This report provides an overview of workplace and job-related factors found to act as barriers to sustainable and inclusive employment for people in groups likely to experience labour market disadvantage. Key findings are that job quality, working arrangements, inclusivity and opportunity for participation at work all matter for inclusive and sustainable employment, along with individual and external systemic and structural barriers to work.
Minimum wages and inflation
New research from the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute has revealed how rises in the minimum wage have almost no impact on inflation and given the collapse in the value of the minimum wage in real terms over the past 2 years, a 7% increase is a necessary recompense for Australia’s lowest
Community Attitudes to Home and Car Electrification
The transition towards a low-carbon future is a pressing issue, and household electrification has emerged as a critical component of Australia’s ongoing shift in energy use. In response, The Australia Institute commissioned a research report to better understand current public sentiment towards home and vehicle electrification via new community research. This report provides a snapshot
Divided Nation: The Stage 3 Tax Cuts Broken Down by City and Country Electorates
The 20 electorates that will benefit the most from Stage 3 are all classified as metropolitan, with 10 in Sydney, five in Melbourne, three in Brisbane, and one in Perth and Canberra. Of the 20 electorates that benefit the least, 12 are classified as rural.
Profits and Inflation in Mining and Non-Mining Sectors
New research from the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute has shed further light on the role of higher corporate profits in driving higher prices in Australia since the COVID pandemic.
Inequality on Steroids
Since the global financial crisis there has been a fundamental change in the operation of the Australian economy. Since World War Two, the majority of the benefits of economic growth have flowed to the bottom 90 per cent of income earners. However, as shown in Figure 1, between 2009 and 2019 the top 10 per
March 2023
In reverse
Australia’s light duty vehicle fleet is among the least fuel efficient in the world, using 24% more fuel per kilometre travelled than the UK. If the UK’s modest standards could be met here, Australian drivers would save $13 billion a year in fuel costs and overall transport emissions would be 17% lower.
Northern direction: If NSW had the Queensland coal royalty system
If NSW had adopted Queensland’s progressive coal royalty system in 2021-22 it would have raised an additional $2.8 billion. For 2022-23 this figure is estimated at between $4.2 billion and $6.2 billion.
Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Education and Employment
As tertiary education has become increasingly essential to employment outcomes, financial security, and meeting the demands of the future economy, the importance of affordable or free tertiary education increases. Instead, education is getting more expensive. Tuition fees have increased significantly since their introduction, and debts are growing and taking longer to repay. The context of
The Fiscal, Economic, and Public Health Dangers of Water Privatisation
Safe drinking water and sewage services are one of the most essential elements of public infrastructure in our society. Communities cannot survive and thrive without reliable water services. Providing those services is core business for any municipal or regional government.
The Times They Aren’t A-Changin (enough)
This report examines the barriers to closing the gender gap by reviewing Australia’s position within the industrial countries of the OECD. The report also uses data from the ABS and the ATO to highlight gender disparities across all levels of income, ranges of occupation and ages, as well as disparities regarding who undertakes the greater