Key Findings:
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The Fair Work Commission’s Review of Modern Awards 2023-24 is considering the impact of workplace relations settings on work and care. This submission argues for good quality, secure part-time jobs to achieve more gender-equitable sharing of care and to support women’s full economic participation.
The post Submission to the Fair Work Commission Modern Award Review 2023-2024, Work and Care appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Key findings:
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In accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Aged Care Royal Commission) the proposed scheme includes a requirement for attainment of a Certificate III qualification and engagement in ongoing training or continuing professional development (CPD).
The post Professionalising the Aged Care Workforce appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The NSW planning system approves coal mines and other projects with damaging climate impacts almost by default. Part of the reason for this is the economic assessments of major projects that are commissioned by project proponents. These assessments invariably overstate project benefits and understate costs to the community. Improved public service capacity and governance of consultants could improve these outcomes.
The post Submission: NSW Planning system and the impacts of climate change appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Victorian FOI system receives more FOIs than any other jurisdiction but is failing to make decisions within the statutory timeframe, has a growing backlog and high numbers of complaints about delays.
The post Submission: Inquiry into the operation of the Freedom of Information Act 1982 appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,017 Australians about a proposed levy on fossil fuel exports. 508 respondents were asked whether they would support a levy of $1 per tonne of emissions (raising around $1.5 billion per year) and 509 whether they would support a levy of $20 per tonne (raising around $30 billion per year).
The results show that more than twice as many Australians support a levy as oppose it, regardless of its size.
The post Polling – Fossil fuel levy appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The margin of error is +/- 3.9%.
Respondents were asked whether they support or oppose the Albanese Government’s changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts.
• Two in three (66%) Dunkley residents support the Albanese Government’s changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts.
• About one in three respondents (28%) oppose the Albanese Government’s changes.
The post Polling: Stage 3 Tax Cuts in Dunkley appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Respondents were asked whether they support or oppose the Albanese Government’s changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts.
• In each electorate, six in 10 respondents (between 62% and 63%) support the Albanese Government’s changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts.
• About one in three respondents (between 31% and 36%) oppose the Albanese Government’s changes
The post Polling: Stage 3 Tax Cuts in Kooyong, Mackellar and Wentworth appeared first on The Australia Institute.
National Party electorates will get a larger average benefit than Liberal and Labor electorates. Tasmania, the Northern Territory and South Australia will also see large benefits.
This paper updates Divided Nation which looked at the distribution of the original Stage 3 tax cuts by federal electorates.
In this paper we will compare the electorate distribution of the modified Stage 3 tax cuts with the electoral distribution of the original Stage 3.
The post Benefits of Modifying the Stage 3 Tax Cuts by Electorate appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The science is clear: fish farming in Macquarie Harbour must end to save the skate.
New scientific evidence has resulted in a substantial change in circumstances since the decision that allowed large-scale fish farming. Environment Minister Plibersek should revoke this decision and replace it with one that recognises the clearly unacceptable impacts of this foreign-owned industry that provides few jobs and pays less tax.
The post Save the Skate appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Halfway through the 47th Parliament and the first term of the Albanese Government, four of the recommendations have been implemented in full and another 14 implemented in part or otherwise progressed.
The Albanese Government has advanced other democratic reforms, including a spill of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and the restoration of territory rights on voluntary assisted dying. This is a significant improvement, and a much more substantial rate of change than that seen under the previous Coalition governments.
Despite this welcome progress, much more needs to be done to ensure elections are as fair and representative as they can be, and to make the government more transparent and accountable. This paper identifies 16 “off the shelf” reforms that should be adopted this year, many recommended by parliamentary reviews that considered these issues in detail.
The post The 47th Parliament and the Democracy Agenda appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The survey took place from Tuesday 23 January 2024 to Monday 29 January 2024, on Thursday 25 January the Prime Minister officially announced changes to the stage 3 tax cuts.
The results show that:
The post Polling: Stage 3 Tax Cuts and Election Promises appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Launched in 2016 as part of Oslo’s climate and energy strategy, the Programme aimed at “handing the urban spaces back to the people” by improving accessibility and liveability.
In recent years the Australian Government has released several plans aimed at reducing the amount of plastic waste. These plans include the 2018 National Waste Policy, the 2019 National Waste Policy Action Plan, the Australian Packaging Covenant, and a goal to recycle or reuse 100% of plastic waste and end plastic pollution by 2040.
What is common to all of these policies is that they focus on recovery, particularly recycling, and not on reducing the production and consumption of plastics in the first place.
The inexorable increase in the growth in plastics waste shows that existing policies are not working. Existing approaches to dealing with plastic waste – including energy recovery (using it for fuel), composting, and recycling – are not making a significant contribution to reducing the amount of plastic waste that is created. Only about 15% of all plastic waste generated over the last 20 years has been recovered through recycling, composting or energy recovery.
These forms of plastic waste recovery have not kept pace with consumption and waste because they are difficult and costly, and unlikely to ever match current levels of plastic waste.
If Australia is to turn the tide on plastics waste, more effective policies that reduce production and consumption are needed.
The post Plastic waste in Australia appeared first on The Australia Institute.
PALM visa holders are permitted to work in occupations classified as low-skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled, and the majority work in agriculture or meat processing. PALM visa applicants are sponsored by an ‘Approved Employer’ who is entitled to make wage deductions for costs including travel, accommodation and visa processing fees.
Workers must obtain written permission to leave their Approved Employer and switch between Approved Employers. These conditions, coupled with problems ensuring the enforcement of minimum wages and the provision of enough working hours to earn a decent wage, have led to reports of underpayment, and of people on PALM visas running away from their Approved Employer.
The conditions of the visa, coupled with long-standing issues with the agricultural sector (in which most PALM workers are employed), make it essential to ensure that PALM workers are given proper working rights and that these rights are protected.
This paper calculates the size of the PALM visa program and discusses what is necessary to reduce the exploitation of temporary workers involved.
The post The PALM Scheme appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute finds that an Army Reserves model could offer benefits including medical support, tax incentives, and financial compensation to Australia’s predominantly volunteer bush firefighters, helping bolster the capability and resilience of volunteer firefighting efforts.
The post Bush Firefighter Reserves? appeared first on The Australia Institute.
There is also the risk that voluntary schemes weaken the argument for government regulation and mandatory standards for emissions disclosure and management. This is particularly worrying when voluntary commitments are being encouraged by the government itself, as is the case in Australia. Climate Active appears to be an attempt by the Australian Government to avoid holding the private sector to account, rather than a complementary measure to robust regulation.
To date, Climate Active has played a significant role facilitating greenwash in Australia by promoting fossil fuel companies and large polluters as ‘climate active’ and neglecting to ensure the veracity of carbon offsets being bought by its members. This is even after numerous independent investigations have found them to be fraudulent. Climate Active has undermined the credibility of its own brand and undermined consumer confidence. The scheme has diminished the credibility of its members who have acted in good faith, both by failing to ensure robust claims, and a willingness to certify businesses who clearly are not ‘climate active’.
That assessment is contained in an article contained in a new special issue of the Journal of Australian Political Economy (JAPE), evaluating the government’s record on a range of issues halfway through its term. The special issue of JAPE was published on 18 December, and was edited by Prof Emeritus Frank Stilwell at the University of Sydney.
The article reviewing the government’s labour policies was co-authored by several staff at the Centre for Future Work, including Greg Jericho, Charlie Joyce, Fiona Macdonald, David Peetz, and Jim Stanford. It considers the impacts of several government initiatives, including:
The first is that self-employment is inexorably growing. The second is that self-employment cannot, or should not, be regulated in order to protect self-employed workers and improve the conditions of their work.
This new report from the Carmichael Centre at the Centre for Future Work shows that, in reality, self-employment is not growing inexorably — in fact, in most countries (including Australia) it is declining.
The much-trumpeted surge in self-employment and ‘freelancing’ is a myth. However, the nature of self-employment is changing: fewer self-employed people are running successful independent businesses, and more are engaged in precarious ‘solo’ activities like short-term contracting and part-time ‘gig’ work.
The report also shows that some forms of self-employment can be regulated to protect affected workers, provided two simple and important criteria are satisfied: the workers are vulnerable and hence need protection, and a viable mechanism exists that enables their work to be efficiently regulated.
The report reviews the proposed provisions of the second part of the federal government’s new Closing Loopholes legislation, which would allow for minimum labour standards to be applied to digital platform workers and owner-operators in the transportation sector. The new legislation (to be considered in Parliament in 2024) is an appropriate and effective response to the challenges facing these two groups of ‘gig’ workers.
With the passage of the Restoring Territory Rights Act through the Commonwealth Parliament in December 2022, the ACT at last became able to legislate on this issue. After almost 20 years – during which time every state in Australia has legalised voluntary assisted dying (VAD) – terminally ill Canberrans will soon also be able to exercise their right to choose to end their life with compassion and dignity.
The Australia Institute supported the Restoring Territory Rights Act, and has long advocated for VAD as a human right, and for the right of the ACT and Northern Territory to legislate VAD. With this submission we add our support to the passage of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill 2023, and offer some suggestions for how the bill could be improved.
The post Ensuring equitable access to Voluntary Assisted Dying appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute recommends including the following commitments and targets in the final ERRP:
The post Submission to Tasmania’s draft Transport Emissions Reduction and Resilience Plan appeared first on The Australia Institute.
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The submission draws the Reference Group’s attention to Australia Institute research on the important advocacy role played by the not-for-profit sector.
The post Not-for-Profit Sector Development Blueprint appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The results show that:
The post Polling: Cost of Living appeared first on The Australia Institute.
An end to native forestry would have no economic impact on the state as a whole, and the experiences of Geeveston, Triabunna and Derby provide insights for managing economic change at the local level.
This paper examines these three towns, all of which have seen significant decline in forestry activity and resulting economic change.
While all three are sometimes described as forestry towns that have transitioned to tourism, employment data shows that jobs in these towns were—and remain—more diverse than is often assumed.
While the forestry sector declined, all three towns have seen other primary, secondary or service industries develop, leaving each with a seemingly stable and sustainable base of economic activity for the future.
The post Jobs and Trees appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The estimated value of this waste is $921 million.
Unwanted and unused Christmas gifts and food ultimately end up in landfill, increasing the greenhouse gas emissions that drive the climate crisis. But this research shows nearly half of Australians (48%) would prefer it if people did not buy them Christmas presents. Less than one in two Australians (46%) consider how the gifts they purchase will eventually be disposed of.
These results suggest that it could be time for a change in consumer habits. Buying fewer unwanted Christmas presents would be a positive outcome for the environment and for consumers. Fewer items would be wasted and sent to landfill, and millions of Australians would save money at Christmas time.
The post Christmas Waste 2023 appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The conventional tools for addressing political finance concerns are public funding, donation caps and spending caps. These tools are blunt instruments that have so far failed to rein in vested interests or address cash-for-access, and they risk many perverse outcomes – most notably, introducing unfair barriers to new entrants, independents and minor parties.
As the Australian Parliament seriously considers changes to electoral laws, including those governing political finance, this paper recommends an alternative suite of political finance reforms that would go a long way to making the political playing field more level and addressing cash-for-access at its roots: exposing it when it happens, making governments pay a political cost for facilitating it and banning it outright where doing so is proportionate, constitutional and likely to be effective.
The post Securing transparency and diversity in political finance appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Following the disruptions of the COVID pandemic and historic falls in real wages over recent years, 2023’s stronger labour market conditions should benefit many workers. Wages have risen, labour force participation is relatively high and unemployment is low. With the introduction of the Government’s 2022 industrial relations reforms, workers are in a better position to bargain, as shown in recent bargaining outcomes and improving wages growth. However, wages are not keeping up with prices, inflation is high and, for many workers, conditions of work are far from satisfactory.
As this year’s GHOTD report shows, significant problems of overwork and underemployment co-exist, affecting many workers across all industries, occupations and age groups. Underemployment particularly affects workers in casual, temporary and other forms of insecure work, and it particularly affects workers in lower-paid roles. Women, younger workers, older workers and services workers are over-represented among those affected. At the same time long hours and overwork remain a problem, especially for full-time workers.
The post Short Changed appeared first on The Australia Institute.
In 1992, Denmark became the first country in the world to effectively regulate research misconduct when it established the body now known as The Danish Board on Research Misconduct.
A Tasmanian Integrated Marine Estate Act would establish an independent authority responsible for a state-wide Marine Estate Management Strategy and Marine Spatial Planning Framework.
The post It’s Time appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The public broadcasters play a vital role in our democracy and are critical to maintaining strong, public interest journalism in Australia. Greater transparency and oversight are required in order to ensure the decision-making bodies of the public broadcasters – and the body that helps appoint them – are shielded from partisan influence.
Ministers should not be able to bypass the merits-based appointments process for ABC Board members. Consultation should be expanded and formalised. The Nomination Panel itself should either be replaced by or overseen by a cross-party committee, and whichever nomination process is used should only be able to be bypassed by the minister in genuine consultation with the shadow minister.
Greater public participation in the appointments process should be encouraged. This includes better publicising upcoming vacancies and giving consideration to an ‘audience supported board member’.
The post Submission: An independent ABC for a strong democracy appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The results show that:
The post Polling – ABC Board appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The results show that:
• Four in five (80%) Australians are at least somewhat concerned about the impacts on human health from pollution caused by the extraction, processing, and burning of fossil fuels.
• Three in 10 Australians are ‘very’ concerned (31%), one in five are ‘fairly’ concerned (22%), and one in four are ‘somewhat’ concerned (27%).
• 95% of Greens voters, 88% of Labor voters, and 71% of Coalition voters are concerned about the impacts of pollution caused by the extraction, processing, and burning of fossil fuels.
• Eight in ten Australians (82%) aged 18-29 support a requirement for federal and state governments to consider the potential human health impacts of fossil fuel projects when deciding on their approval.
The post Polling: Climate Change and Health appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Over 80% of these jobs are in Hobart and the South East.
Australian Tax Office data shows that the three main salmon companies had income of $7 billion over nine years, but paid just $51 million in company tax. Zero tax was paid in the last three years for which data is available.
The post Small Fish, Big Pond appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Logging in Tasmania’s native forests should cease as soon as possible.
The transition away from logging should not involve the use of carbon credits; the examples in this paper show that market mechanisms are at best a distraction from, and at worst a hinderance to, an effective transition.
The post Ending native forest logging without market mechanisms appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Despite the claims to the contrary by the Northern Territory government, development of the Beetaloo Basin’s gas resources will be of little benefit to Territorians.
Modelling used by the NT government itself shows that the development of the Beetaloo Basin will not diversify the NT economy, aid the transition to net zero emissions, provide cheap gas to the east-coast, nor significantly boost government revenues.
The Beetaloo Basin gas development will further entrench the NT economy’s petrostate-like reliance on the oil and gas industry, crowding out other industries. It will also increase fossil fuel profits and global greenhouse gas emissions.
The post Gas Bagging appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Northern Territory is facing a wave of gas mega-projects.
While the Northern Territory Government and gas companies talk up the potential economic benefits of gas development for the region, little mention is made of the negative impacts.
Large gas projects have a short, intensive construction period that disrupts existing industries, driving up costs and crowding out jobs in existing businesses.
Beyond the construction phase, gas projects provide a relatively small number of ongoing jobs, and the benefits of these projects flow largely to the owners of the gas companies rather than the wider economy and community.
The post The economic impacts of gas development in the Northern Territory appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Bill is unlikely to facilitate actions that would result in genuine emissions reductions in NSW, including elimination of fossil fuel subsidies, a moratorium on coal and gas development and decarbonisation of industry and transport.
While the goals of the Bill are laudable, fiscal responsibility is a subjective guiding principle and open to creative interpretation by industry. Improvement could be made by emphasising climate science, effectiveness, efficiency, and equity as guiding principles of the Net Zero Future Bill.
It is also integral that appointments to the Net Zero Commission with links to fossil fuels and carbon offset industries are explicitly ruled out.
The post Submission: NSW Net Zero Future Bill 2023 appeared first on The Australia Institute.
People are most likely to think corruption is common among state and territory governments (69%), followed by local governments (68%) and the federal government (66%).
Key Results
The Australia Institute surveyed a sample of 1,535 Australians about their perceptions of the prevalence of corruption at different levels of government.
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To ensure the Sustainability Strategy will drive Tasmania’s achievement of the SDGs, the Australia Institute Tasmania recommends the following:
The post Submission to Tasmania’s Sustainability Strategy appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute conducted a special exit poll, surveying a sample of 1,547 Australians from 6pm Saturday 14 October, about the Voice referendum and misinformation.
The key results show that:
The post Misinformation and the referendum appeared first on The Australia Institute.
These issues are epitomised in the proposed merger of the University of Adelaide with the University of South Australia, a case which shows why reform is needed.
The post University Councils, Transparency and the Adelaide University Merger appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute has a growing body of research on the harms caused by the over-use of consulting firms by Australian governments.
This paper summarises and expands on that research in the context of the inquiry ethics and professional accountability: structural challenges in the audit, assurance and consulting industry.
While our research focuses on the relationship between governments and consulting firms, some of the findings will be applicable for consulting firms more generally, including their relationships with private clients.
The post Consultants: Structurally Unsound appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Re-examining the policy presents the Albanese government with the opportunity to deliver bigger and fairer tax cuts to most Australians while providing scope for greater spending on infrastructure, programs or benefits
The post A Better Stage 3 appeared first on The Australia Institute.
The Australia Institute is a longstanding supporter of a constitutionally enshrined Voice, as articulated in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Research is the cornerstone of the Australia Institute’s work. There is a significant body of research—led by First Nations people—about the Voice to Parliament, where it came from, how it is likely to work, and how it would help solve the chronic gaps between outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and to this substantial body of work we simply want to add our support.
The Voice will deliver on the call made in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It will enrich our democracy and help make Australia a more just nation.
The need for the Voice to be constitutionally enshrined
We recognise the need for the Voice to be constitutionally enshrined (and not merely legislated) because every federal government body ever established to represent the interests of First Nations Australians has been abolished. The most recent example is the abolition of ATSIC, which was legislated out of existence in 2005. Nearly 20 years have passed without a viable replacement, and Indigenous disadvantage has only worsened. Reconciliation depends on listening to the voices of First Nations people, and the channels of communication must not be so easily severed. One noteworthy exception to this pattern is the Torres Strait Regional Authority, which has effectively represented the interests of Torres Strait Islanders since it was established in the 1990s.
Most do not outline clear policies to address political donations, political expenditure or the revolving door between politics and business. Neither the law nor stock exchange rules require them to do so, and few do it willingly.
These are some of the key findings of one of the most detailed and extensive analysis of corporate political expenditure in Australia ever conducted.
The Australia Institute commissioned corporate governance and responsible investment solutions provider ISS-ESG1 to assess the corporate expenditure disclosures, policies and oversight of 75 of the 100 largest companies on the Australian stock exchange (ASX).
The post The Hidden Political Expenditure of Australian Corporations appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Two of the changes with the most serious ramifications are the imposition of a donation cap (around $4,000 each four-year electoral cycle) and a dramatic increase in public funding.
This submission focuses on the effects of the 2018 changes on political influence and power.
The post Submission: Money and Power in Victorian Elections appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Reforms to Victoria’s Legislative Council should ensure proportionality and representativeness by adopting a state-wide electorate. Victoria’s political finance laws seem to unfairly disadvantage challengers, to the benefit of incumbents.
The post Submission: 2022 Victorian State Election Inquiry appeared first on The Australia Institute.
Hundreds of thousands of NDIS participants rely on this workforce to provide personal support and care on a daily basis.
The NDIS workforce is large and growing, currently employing about a quarter of a million workers, mostly women. Pay, working conditions and career opportunities in the disability support workforce are critical to the future of women’s economic equality in Australia.
It is a decade since the NDIS was first piloted, yet the promise for workers, that the scheme would translate into ‘greater pay, … better working conditions … (and) enough resources to do the job properly’ has not been fulfilled.
Rather, conditions of work in the NDIS are poor and deteriorating.
The design of the NDIS, with its market basis and poor and uneven regulatory oversight, has undermined fair pay and working conditions for disability support workers and is threatening workforce stability.
This briefing paper reviews this evidence and argues for significant reforms to address urgent problems arising from these design flaws and regulatory failures.
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