Latest Reports
23 September 2018
Who’s in the room? Access and influence in Australian politics
Powerful and well-resourced business groups, unions and not-for-profits are influencing policy to serve their interests, sometimes at the expense of the public interest. Stronger checks and balances on lobbying, donations and access would make our politics cleaner and fairer.
16 September 2018
Mapping Australian higher education 2018
The graduate gender pay gap in Australia is narrowing, with more women in paid work than ever before. Women’s earnings generally outpaced men’s over the past decade. More broadly, the financial benefit of going to university is falling as domestic bachelor-degree student numbers reach record high levels. But student numbers are now increasing slowly. Combined with recent jobs growth, graduate job prospects are expected to improve in the next few years.
19 August 2018
Safer care saves money: How to improve patient care and save public money at the same time
Australia could save $1.5 billion a year on health spending by improving the safety of patient care. Safer hospital care doesn’t just reduce harm to patients, it saves money for taxpayers and frees up beds so other patients can be treated.
29 July 2018
Mapping primary care in Australia
Primary care policy needs an overhaul to ensure all Australians, especially the poor and the elderly, get the best possible health care. Many poorer Australians can’t afford to go to a GP when they need to or a dentist when they should, and people in rural and remote areas find it too hard to get to a pharmacist or medical specialist.
1 July 2018
Mostly working: Australia’s wholesale electricity market
Wholesale electricity prices rose by 130 per cent between 2015 and 2017. But governments can’t fix the problem, because most of the price rises are caused by issues beyond their control. Politicians should tell Australians the harsh truth: high electricity prices are the new normal.
29 April 2018
Dropping out: the benefits and costs of trying university
More than 50,000 students who started university in Australia this year will drop out. Part-time students are particularly at risk. Policy makers should do more to reduce the number of young people who leave university with nothing but debt and regret.
25 March 2018
Down to the wire: A sustainable electricity network for Australia
State governments have spent up to $20 billion more than was needed on the electricity grid. Customers are paying up to $400 more for their power each year than they should. They should get a rebate, or governments should write down the value of the assets to reduce electricity bills.
12 March 2018
A crisis of trust: The rise of protest politics in Australia
Protest politics is on the rise in Australia, and the main cause is collapsing trust in politicians and the major parties. If the major parties and politicians want to rebuild trust with voters, they’ll need to change the way they do politics.
4 March 2018
Housing affordability: re-imagining the Australian dream
Low interest rates, policy changes and restrictive planning have doubled house prices in 20 years. It’s time for governments to open the gate to more housing and stem rising public anxiety about housing affordability.
25 February 2018
Unfreezing discount rates: transport infrastructure for tomorrow
Australia is taking the wrong approach to valuing roads, railways and other big infrastructure. Change will help governments pick the right projects in the right order.