The Productivity Commission raised a few eyebrows when it called for an additional A$200 million for legal assistance services to disadvantaged Australians, who are “more susceptible to, and less equipped…
In the early to mid-2000s governments throughout Australia introduced reforms restricting rights to claim for negligence. The tort of negligence and other statutory causes of action, including the prohibition…
Recent media reports suggest that the Productivity Commission into Child Care and Early Childhood Learning will recommend that the simplified single-payment child-care rebate is means-tested. This is not…
In November 1990, then treasurer Paul Keating announced that Australia was in recession – and that it was “the recession we had to have”. Today, there are growing calls for serious, structural economic…
The Productivity Commission’s Draft Report on Childcare and Early Childhood Learning shows the serious limitations of market economics for analysing social policy. The report’s 900-plus pages offer a collection…
A government giving the Productivity Commission an issue to probe should always expect that it is likely to get back more than it bargained for. The commission, well known for both rigour and commitment…
The recommendations of the Productivity Commission into Childcare and Early Learning appear to be a win for early childhood learning. However, as with many reports such as this, the devil is in the detail…
The Productivity Commission has issued a challenge to Tony Abbott by saying that some funds from his expensive proposed paid parental leave scheme should be redirected to child care. In its Childcare and…
Roy Green, University of Technology Sydney and Phillip Toner, University of Technology Sydney
Every year the Productivity Commission (PC) produces an annual report card on Australian government assistance to industry. And every year it singles out the “usual suspects” for attention, particularly…
This week the Productivity Commission released its second Productivity Update. The Productivity Report reviews Australia’s “productivity performance” over the last year. It disaggregates the statistics…
Half of all Australians will experience a legal problem this year. Most won’t get legal assistance or come into contact with our courts or other legal institutions. In part, this is because Australia’s…
As I’ve argued before and it’s generally accepted, the car industry is a critical part of Australia’s science and technology base. The sector spends A$600 million a year on R&D and another $800 million…
Toyota has confirmed it will cease its vehicle and engine production in Australia by the end of 2017, signalling the end of automotive manufacturing in Australia. The announcement follows decisions by…
Ford and Holden gone. SPC Ardmona in jeopardy. Toyota under threat. The Productivity Commission’s (PC) position paper on automotive industry support fires a clear shot across the bows of the manufacturing…
Can the Productivity Commission review commissioned by the Abbott government recognise the possible failure of the market-model funding of many early childhood services? This rather broad term now covers…
A substantial increase in vehicle manufacturing is needed if Australia is ever to have a sustainable car industry, according to preliminary findings released today by the Productivity Commission’s inquiry…
In the wake of the global financial crisis, Holden’s parent company, General Motors was placed on life support. Its fortunes collapsed along with the US economy, leading the United States government to…
We have come to see private health insurance as an essential part of the national health funding mix, but it’s actually quite a costly way to fund health care. A well-designed system with a single national…
The idea of further government support for the ailing automotive industry (AKA the Holden problem) generates considerable political and economic debate. For economists and business academics, it comes…
Charis Palmer, The Conversation and Kylar Loussikian, The Conversation
The Australian Government should tighten the welfare system for older Australians, adding the family home to the assets test for the age pension and limiting tax concessions on superannuation contributions…
Incoming Director of the Australian Institute of Business and Economics at UQ, and Professor of Management, Faculty of Business and Economics, Macquarie University
Honorary Enterprise Professor, School of Population and Global Health, and Department of General Practice and Primary Care, The University of Melbourne