One of the most expensive ways for Australians to access their own money is by using an automatic teller machine (ATM) that is not provided by their own bank. In most cases, third-party ATMs charge $2 for every transaction, including checking one’s account balance. In other words, $2 is the price consumers pay every time

Contrary to popular belief, the policies that are most effective in driving down greenhouse gas emissions actually raise revenue rather than cost the budget money. The Gillard Government has recently scrapped, or wound back, a range of policies designed to help reduce greenhouse gasses in order to ensure the budget returns quickly to surplus. These

On 28 October 2010 the Senate referred the topic of competition in the banking sector to the Senate Economics Committee for inquiry. Terms of Reference Competition within the Australian banking sector, including: (a) the current level of competition between bank and non-bank providers; (b) the products available and fees and charges payable on those products;

On 30 September 2010, the Select Committee on New Taxes initiated an inquiry into the following matter: (a) new taxes proposed for Australia, including: (i) the minerals resource rent tax and expanded petroleum resource rent tax, (ii) a carbon tax, or any other mechanism to put a price on carbon, and (iii) any other new

Time, as they say, is money. In fact, one of the most important aspects of our lives – what we do for a living – involves exchanging our time, in the form of labour, for money. Yet, millions of Australians ‘donate’ unpaid overtime to their employers on a regular basis. Like money, time is vital

The Australian Government is not doing enough to ensure that Australian imports of forestry products are consistent with the goals of Australian aid programs and stated commitments to reduce greenhouse gases. Australian aid includes programs and projects to help Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Island nations to better manage their forestry resources for

Coal seam gas (CSG) is a controversial way of extracting natural gas. While many Australians hold strong views against it, a surprising number are only vaguely aware of the issue. In addition to feeling generally uninformed, many people also express unease about CSG because of the controversy surrounding it. A survey conducted by The Australia

The Australian tax-transfer system targets those in need and, as a consequence, is prone to poverty traps, areas where higher private income leads to very little gain in disposable income, and high effective marginal tax rates (EMTRs) in general. This can severely impact on people’s ability to work their way out of poverty. Particularly acute

Like climate change, the possibility of peak oil poses an uncomfortable challenge to citizens and governments alike in the 21st century. ‘Peak oil’ is the term used to describe the point in time at which the worldwide production of crude oil extraction will be maximised. But while it is inevitable that production will peak at

While the 2007 election was fought on a promise by the ALP to introduce a carbon price the 2010 election was fought by both the ALP and the Coalition on a promise not to do so. For the ALP the promised inaction was until at least 2013 and for the Coalition the promise was open

The Coalition has proposed to cut the size of the Commonwealth public service workforce by 12,000 over the next two years. There has been considerable debate in Canberra, which employs more Commonwealth public servants than any other city, about the likely impact of such a contraction on the local economy. In addition to the direct

The power of Australia’s big four banks is unmistakeable. Their underlying profits equate to almost three per cent of GDP, up from less than one per cent a quarter of a century ago. Of every $100 spent in Australia, nearly $3 ends up as underlying profit for the banks. Profits are so high because the

A price on carbon is widely regarded as an essential element of an efficient response to climate change, yet such an approach has been described as a ‘great big tax on everything’ by opponents. While there is no doubt that putting a price on greenhouse gas emissions will lead to an increase in the price

Despite a great deal of enthusiasm about green jobs, there has been surprisingly little interest in what the concept actually means. Given that the precise definition of a green job will ultimately determine both the environmental effectiveness of the growing body of green-collar workers and the value received in return for significant public investment, the

The Climate Institute has commissioned both quantitative and qualitative market research on the attitudes of the Australian public on climate change and climate change solutions, for the past three years. This research aims to understand and track Australians’ attitudes to climate change and policy over the past year, as well as identify and track issues,

An analysis of just four Centrelink payments, the Parenting Payment, the Carer Allowance, the Disability Support Pension and the Bereavement Allowance, revealed that in 2008, more than 168,000 Australians missed out on government assistance estimated to be worth $623.8 million. Research shows that people are excluded because of: a lack of awareness about available assistance;

This paper presents the first data collected for the Measuring what Matters indicators; access to primary health care. The paper begins by presenting new data on why people say they wish to see a doctor and then reports the degree of difficulty that Australians experience as to their ability to make appointments with doctors at

If a binding agreement can be reached on a post-2012 international climate regime, it is likely to include a market-based instrument for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) and enhancing forest sinks in developing countries (collectively known as ‘REDD-plus’). Under such a scheme, countries that reduce net REDD emissions below a pre-set baseline

‘Minerals in the Australian economy’ is of course a big topic. On the one hand that means it is inevitable that major issues are not discussed. On the other hand it means that the contributor has a lot of scope to select what to talk about. The position here is not to question the peak

As part of its ongoing research into the design of Australia’s climate-change policies, The Australia Institute recently conducted polling to better understand the relevant experiences and attitudes of Australians. Some of the questions asked related to the Australian Government’s roof insulation scheme and these results are presented below to help inform the Senate inquiry into

As a result of climate change, the distribution of dengue and other vector-borne diseases will be affected not only in Australia but also globally so that shortages in the supply of fresh blood products could become more widespread in the future. This situation highlights the need for Australia to adopt effective national emissions targets and

Banks were portrayed as the villains of the global financial crisis; many of the big international banks and their executives were associated with greed and excessive risk-taking. Regulators were obliged to step in with unprecedented rescue packages to save the financial systems in the US, the UK and, to a lesser extent, the major European