Since July 2005, the great majority of Australia’s ten million workers have been able to choose their superannuation fund. When it was introduced, the Coalition Government represented the Choice of Fund policy as a major victory for consumers. In reality, the majority of Australians have derived little benefit from greater choice and competition in the...

To explore community attitudes to telemarketing and to measure the impact of the Do Not Call Register since its introduction, The Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 1,000 Australians. The findings show that: ? Australians on average receive 8.5 unsolicited telemarketing calls per month. ? The average telemarketing call lasts for 1.45 minutes....

To explore community attitudes to telemarketing and to measure the impact of the Do Not Call Register since its introduction, The Australia Institute conducted an online survey of 1,000 Australians. The findings show that: • Australians on average receive 8.5 unsolicited telemarketing calls per month. • The average telemarketing call lasts for 1.45 minutes. •...

The Australian Government has announced its intention to introduce emissions trading in 2010 by establishing the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), which will set a ‘cap’ on greenhouse gas emissions. Permits equivalent to this cap will be auctioned or given away to the largest 1000 polluters. These permits will then be bought and sold between...

The ability to measure emissions accurately and affordably is a pre-requisite for including any source of emissions in a robust ETS. While it is relatively easy to measure energy combustion emissions, this is not the case for agriculture. The three main gases produced from agricultural enterprises are carbon dioxide, methane from the digestion systems of...