New Research

Banning political donations from third party interest groups: a summary of constitutional issues

27 January 2012This paper canvasses opinions and issues arising from the proposed ban on political donations from third party interest groups in the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2011, currently before the NSW Parliament, with particular reference to the implied freedom of political communication under the Commonwealth Constitution.

Proposed changes relating to caps on electoral expenditure by political parties: a summary of constitutional issues

27 January 2012This short paper discusses the constitutional issues associated with the proposed amendments in the Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2011 relating to caps on electoral expenditure.

Child deaths – fatal assault and neglect

27 January 2012This short paper focuses on the issue of fatal assault and neglect in children and young people in Queensland and discusses categories of fatal assault and neglect and directions for future research.

Indonesia: from vigilantism to terrorism in Cirebon

26 January 2012Involvement in violent campaigns against vice and religious deviance has become one pathway to terrorism in Indonesia.

2011 independent review of the intelligence community

25 January 2012This is the first comprehensive review of the Australian intelligence community since the 2004 inquiry conducted by Mr Philip Flood AO.

Broadcasting Services Amendment (Regional Commercial Radio) Bill 2011

25 January 2012This proposes of this Bill is to digest and amend the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (the BSA) with the aim of easing the regulatory burden on regional commercial radio broadcasters.

Beyond switchover: the future technical evolution of digital terrestrial television in Australia

24 January 2012This paper starts a discussion about some of the issues for the future technical migration of free-to-air DTTB. While the discussion paper and consultation is intended to be broad-ranging, certain matters are outside their scope.

Imagination for re-engagement from the margins of education

24 January 2012This journal article suggests that more effective solutions to student marginalisation may be found by engaging with the students in the margins that they occupy.

Job search experience, Australia, Jul 2011

24 January 2012This publication presents information about the experiences of unemployed people in seeking work, in terms of the steps they have taken to find work and the difficulties they have encountered in finding work. It is based on data collected in the Job Search Experience Survey, conducted throughout Australia in July 2011.

Thirty years of conflict: drivers of anti-government mobilisation in Afghanistan 1978-2011

24 January 2012This paper traces the structural factors driving anti-government mobilisation in Afghanistan in each successive phase of the country’s thirty years of conflicts.

What are the options? Pricing and taxation policy reforms to redress excessive alcohol consumption and related harms in Australia

24 January 2012Increasing community and political concern about excessive alcohol consumption and related harms in Australia has prompted calls for the introduction of tighter regulatory controls.

Explanatory statement for the model Work Health and Safety Regulations

24 January 2012This statement accompanies and provides an explanation of the content of the provisions in the model Work Health and Safety Regulations.

Murray Valley encephalitis: a review of clinical features, diagnosis and treatment

24 January 2012The aftermarth of Queensland and NSW floods are beginning to effect areas of Victoria and South East Australia, with numbers in mosquito prone diseases rapidly on the rise.

Carbon policy assistance reviews: the Commission's tasks

24 January 2012This consultation paper sets out the nature of each of the tasks assigned to the Commission for the Government's Clean Energy Future Package.

Drinking cultures and social occasions

24 January 2012This study, conducted by Turning Point Drug and Alcohol Centre and Eastern Health, provides evidence that acute intoxication increased numbers of injuries due to assaults and traffic accidents on public holidays and other major celebratory events and rises in incidents on the day before.

Worker representation and participation guide

24 January 2012This guide provides information on the representation and participation of workers in health and safety matters at the workplace, as well as guidance on resolving health and safety issues

How much do we know about the impact of the economic downturn on the employment of migrants?

24 January 2012The employment shock of late 2008 in the Peoples Republic of China could have been a product of three different events.

2010-11 report on the operation of the Aged Care Act 1997

23 January 2012Recent reviews of the Aged Care Act of 1997 have led to increases in government funding in particular, aged care facilites and the services they provide to indigenous communities.

Australian Government spending on irregular maritime arrivals and counter-people smuggling activity

23 January 2012There has been much discussion in both the media and political debate in recent times about the substantial and rising costs to the Australian Government of intercepting, detaining and processing asylum seekers arriving by boat.

Public administration and politics in NSW: a statistical profile

  • Talina Drabsch

23 January 2012This paper, the fifth in the Social Indicators series published by the NSW Parliamentary Library, provides a snapshot of public administration and politics in NSW. While the focus is on NSW, relevant information is provided on the other States and Territories to assist in providing appropriate context and perspective for the NSW data.

Commentary

What's data got to do with it? Reassessing the NT intervention

25 January 2012Income management should be one of the easier programs to measure writes Eva Cox for The Conversation.

Piracy and prosecution: Ringing in Kim Dotcom

25 January 2012Journalists have found their demon figure in the form of an anti-copyright maestro writes Binoy Kampmark for APO.

Margaret Thatcher, between myth and politics

24 January 2012The Iron Lady's portrayal of Britain’s most divisive modern prime minister fits a broader mood of reappraisal of her years in power, says David Hayes in Inside Story

Topic Guides

NBN: Guide for Consumers

  • Australian Communications Consumer Action Network & Internet Society Australia

09 June 2011The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), have developed NBN: A Guide for Consumers, designed to offer all Australians information about the National Broadband Network.

Wicked problems: do they exist and does it matter?

  • Public Policy Institute - Australian Catholic University

12 December 2011Recently, all kinds of problems and issues are being called wicked, not in the sense of evil, but complex, difficult to understand and resistant to solving.

Choice and values in schooling

  • Public Policy Institute - Australian Catholic University

12 December 2011School choice has been a divisive issue in education policy for a long time, often the subject of heated debate based more on ideology than evidence.

Audio

Delusions of certainty: regulation through an ethical lens

Listen to audio
25 January 2012Social scientists Assoc Prof Fiona Haines and Prof Nancy Reichman discuss the myths and implications behind authorities’ implementation of regulations, particularly in the wake of a disaster. With host Jennifer Cook.

Justifying the means: The law as accomplice in crimes against humanity

Listen to audio
25 January 2012Criminologist and lawyer Dr Jennifer Balint discusses how nation-states seek to use the law in support of genocidal practices and other crimes against humanity. She also examines how, conversely, the law is also called upon to bring about reconciliation after regime change. With host Jennifer Cook.

Video

The blessed unrest

Listen to audio
27 January 2012Paul Hawken is an environmentalist, entrepreneur, journalist and author.

Social entrepreneurship - the revolution matures

Listen to audio
09 December 2011The discourse around social entrepreneurship continues at a pace: more international conferences, research interest, journals and university courses are some of the identifiers.

Websites

Development Policy Blog

03 January 2012Providing a platform for the best in aid and development analysis, The Development Policy blog focuses on Australia, the Pacific and Asia.

Datafication

21 November 2011Datafication is part of The Works continued commitment to understanding how the Australian social media landscape works. They do this to have a real understanding of what’s happening online, to be able to access fact based insights that are based on unique Australian data, and essentially to be able to better inform marketers around the use of the channel.

Design and Art Australia Online

16 November 2011Design and Art Australia Online (DAAO) is a collaborative e-Research tool built upon the foundations of the Dictionary of Australian Artists Online.

Latest commentary

Noticeboard

13 January 2012

The Summer 2012 issue of Quarterly Access examines the recent East Asia Summit, bilateral alliances in the Asia Pacific, the future of Timor-Leste, women's participation in peace processes and more.

Read QA online: http://www.aiia.asn.au/qa/qa-vol4-issue1

20 December 2011

Arts Minister Simon Crean has announced an independent review of the Australia Council for the Arts ahead of the development of the nation's first National Cultural Policy in almost 20 years.

20 December 2011

On 18 November 2011, Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs, Senator the Hon Kate Lundy, announced the establishment of an independent panel of eminent community leaders to conduct an inquiry into Australian Government services to ensure they are responsive to the needs of Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

Books

Speechwriting for government in Australia

Speechwriting for government in Australia

  • James Groves
  • James Groves & Associates
"...an indispensible book...excellent practical guide to the art of effective oral communication" from the Foreword by Malcolm Hazell CVO AM, former Official Secretary to the Governor-General
Indifferent Inclusion Aboriginal people and the Australian Nation

Indifferent Inclusion Aboriginal people and the Australian Nation

  • Russell McGregor
  • Aboriginal Studies Press
Russell McGregor is one of the foremost scholars in the field of Aboriginal history. The very title of the book breaks new ground because of the questions implicit in its approach…his perspective is genuinely fresh and insightful. Historian Mark McKenna

Topic Guides

NBN: Guide for Consumers

  • Australian Communications Consumer Action Network & Internet Society Australia

09 June 2011The Internet Society of Australia (ISOC-AU) and the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN), have developed NBN: A Guide for Consumers, designed to offer all Australians information about the National Broadband Network.

Wicked problems: do they exist and does it matter?

  • Public Policy Institute - Australian Catholic University

12 December 2011Recently, all kinds of problems and issues are being called wicked, not in the sense of evil, but complex, difficult to understand and resistant to solving.

Choice and values in schooling

  • Public Policy Institute - Australian Catholic University

12 December 2011School choice has been a divisive issue in education policy for a long time, often the subject of heated debate based more on ideology than evidence.