Many workers who are given mobile phones and laptops by their employer feel obliged to work overtime, new research by The Australia Institute reveals. The research on the increasingly blurry boundary between work and life was conducted for national Go Home On Time day.

When sick, the doctor is the first port of call for most Australians. In 2009-10 one in five visits to a GP resulted in extra fees over and above the Medicare scheduled fee. An estimated $557 million extra were paid for these visits. While the government encourages GPs to charge the scheduled fee (known as...

Cask wine produced from grapes grown along the Murray River is being sold for less than the cost of bottled water, this report reveals. With up to 960 litres of water used to make a single litre of cask wine, and bottled water retailing for up to $3.00 for 500ml, the Institute is concerned that...

"The future is in our hands, and it will be defined by the way we handle the current minerals boom. Get it wrong, and we falter. Get it right, and we set the nation up for decades to come."Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard

This paper examines the Coalition's 'Direct Action' plan for reducing carbon emissions. In the 2007 federal election both major parties committed to introducing an Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). By 2009 both parties agreed on an emissions reduction target of five per cent on 2000 levels by 2020. But since Tony Abbott became leader of the...