Allowing tax deductions for certain expenses incurred in planting a carbon sink forest has become a controversial topic. This paper looks at the background to the tax deduction, explains why carbon sink forest are important in controlling emissions, outlines recent objections to this measure...

The Census collects data on a broad range of social and economic measures of the Australian population. While it is possible to compare electoral divisions on individual census data items, it is often more useful to compare divisions on the basis of a summary of related social and economic data...

As the People’s Republic of China continues to develop as the subject of intense economic, political and cultural interest, this study examines the place ‘China’ has held in the parliamentary imagination by exploring the history of the Australian parliament’s dealings with China. The monograph’s...

Recent calls for increased Commonwealth funding for dental services have been made in the midst of reports of long waiting lists and emerging evidence that poorer dental health is associated with lower socio-economic status. Although the National Oral Health Plan calls for action on dental...

The paper focuses on the background to, and provisions of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 relating to industrial action. It examines:

• the benefits of collective bargaining
• the role of a right to strike in voluntary collective bargaining systems
• recognition of the...

The aim of this paper is to present an overview of the Australian natural gas sector and outline some recent important developments. It also expands on and updates earlier work by the Parliamentary Library on this topic.

The paper looks at characteristics of natural gas, units of...

Health workforce shortages are a global phenomenon. Dealing with these shortages requires a multi dimensional strategy that some developed countries have recognised may need to include the introduction of new health professionals. These professionals supplement the work of medical practitioners...

This research paper provides an analysis by Commonwealth electoral division of socio-demographic data from the second release of the 2006 Census of Population and Housing. The electoral boundaries used in this paper are the current boundaries used at the 2007 federal election.

This paper...

Soft compulsion is a method to increase retirement savings by automatically increasing the individual employee’s superannuation contributions, but allowing the individual to opt out of this arrangement. It is based on the assumption that individuals, left to their own devices, will often fail to...

Military superannuation arrangements have been subject to extensive changes. Yet another change may occur in the wake of a recently completed review of military superannuation arrangements.

Both serving and retired members of the Australian Defence Force have legitimate grievances in...