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Occupational entry regulations (OER) are legal requirements that people need to meet to enter certain professions. They are intended to protect consumers by ensuring providers are of sufficient quality – but they can also create costs by making it harder for new workers to enter a profession or for new firms to open and grow. In this paper we construct a database of OER stringency across three states and a number of occupations to better understand these potential costs. We find that for services provided to consumers (businesses), OER tend to be more (less) stringent in Australia compared with the average OECD country. In most occupations OER are more stringent in Australia compared to the least stringent OECD country. We find that more stringent OER are associated with lower business entry and exit rates, and a slower flow of workers from less to more productive firms, both of which may have negative implications for productivity. We also find some tentative evidence that OER tend to be associated with skill shortages. These results do not necessarily suggest that OER should be less stringent. But they fill a gap in our understanding of the effects of OER, which can help policymakers going forward.

Introduction

In 1978 counter-protesters met each stop of a tour of Australia by Mary Whitehouse, a self-styled “morals crusader” from the UK who was opposed to what she described as the “permissive society”. Whitehouse’s messages included instructing followers in Perth that “a woman was expected to entertain her husband to stop him from watching too much TV”.

On September 20 in Melbourne Whitehouse addressed what she described as a “disappointing” number of followers at Festival Hall while hundreds demonstrated outside against her campaign to restrict civil and human rights for women, lesbian and gay community members and others. The following day a rally by 30 members of the Christian far-right group Festival of Light (FOL) at the University of Sydney was outnumbered 25 to 1 by their opponents. A later FOL rally the same day was met by 350 counter-protesters who were watched closely by 150 police. Meetings in Perth were also met with counter-protests but it was in Queensland where the most disruptive action took place.

On this episode of Dollars & Sense, Australia Institute Senior Economist Matt Grudnoff and Research Fellow Adam Gottschalk discuss the spin around productivity and why paying workers more – not less – might hold the key to a more productive economy.

Join President José Ramos-Horta at 6pm AEDT, Tuesday 8 October for an evening of conversation at the Sydney Opera House, presented by the Australia Institute as part of its 30 Years of Big Ideas.

Host: Matt Grudnoff, Senior Economist, the Australia Institute // @MattGrudnoff

Host: Adam Gottschalk, Anne Kantor Research Fellow, the Australia Institute // @adamchalksitup

Theme music: Blue Dot Sessions

We’d love to hear your feedback on this series, so send in your questions, comments or suggestions for future episodes to podcasts@australiainstitute.org.au.

Introduction

A collection of templates, worksheets and checklists for changemakers collated by the Commons librarians on campaign strategy & planning, tactics and actions, organising, narrative, and more.

Download these templates, or make a copy of Google Docs, and fill them in with your own information. Use the checklists to work through processes or make sure you have what you need to progress. If you need more background before using a worksheet check out the topics in the Commons and our Start Here guides.

This is a living list so let us know what resources you are looking for or if you have one to share. Please note that some of the resources below could sit under multiple topic areas.

The Western Australian Government’s changes to the state’s domestic gas policy give companies more opportunities to export gas and further reduce domestic gas supply, said The Australia Institute.

Key Findings:

• Exports of gas are threatening the stability of WA’s gas market.
• The policy changes announced today allow more of WA’s domestic onshore gas to be exported, not less.
• The cause of the problem is Woodside’s North West Shelf Extension proposal, which has not identified supply sufficient for its export capacity.
• “The barbarians are at the gates of the WA domestic gas market and the WA Government is throwing them the keys,” said Rod Campbell, Research Director at The Australia Institute.

“Today’s changes to the WA domestic gas policy allow more of WA’s domestic onshore gas to be exported. Onshore gas that had been set aside for the domestic market is now allowed to be exported.

“This benefits Woodside, which is desperate to take more gas for its North West Shelf Extension export facility. It also benefits gas companies that would rather sell WA’s domestic onshore gas to Woodside than Western Australians.

“This is a disaster for Western Australian gas users because it more closely links the domestic market and the export market.

“This is the east coast gas policy mess all over again.

“If anything, this is worse than the east coast because more WA gas (over 50%) is given away royalty-free and no gas exporters have ever paid Petroleum Resource Rent Tax.

Australia is one of the lowest-taxing countries in the developed world. While it is sometimes suggested that Australian governments spend too much, the reality is that Australia raises very little tax revenue compared to similar countries. Insofar as Australian governments have a problem balancing revenue and spending, that problem lies in the level of revenue collected, not the amount it spent.

Tax is good

This graph shows the 38 economies in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in order of tax revenues as a percentage of their economy (GDP). Only eight have lower tax to GDP ratios than Australia, and these include relatively low-income countries like Türkiye and Mexico, as well as tax havens like Switzerland and Ireland.

If the graph does not display, click here.

If Australia were to increase the level of revenue it collects from taxation to the OECD average—a level similar to that collected by Canada or New Zealand—the Commonwealth would have had an extra $140bn in revenue in 2023–24.