The public sector’s share of total employment fell from 26 per cent in 1984 to 16 per cent in 2005, amounting to 940,000 fewer jobs in the public sector. While all levels of government have lost employment share, the Commonwealth is the only sector to have also experienced a decline in absolute job numbers. Tony...

Sarah Miskin and Greg Baker examine political finance disclosures under the current and proposed thresholds, using the annual returns of the major parties (the Liberal Party, the Nationals and the ALP) for the financial years 1998–99 to 2003–04. Proposed amendments to the Commonwealth Electoral Act currently before parliament include measures to raise the thresholds for...

Medical savings accounts have been suggested as one way of addressing the question of how Australia can pay for its future health needs. They are similar to compulsory superannuation – individuals save a proportion of their income into an account which can only be used for health expenses. Luke Buckmaster examines the case for MSAs...

Recently there has been some interest in the Net Family Tax Benefit, sparked partly by recent comments by the Treasurer about the 2006–07 federal budget and by concern that the current system for the payment of the benefit is already generous. Leslie Nielson provides background on these matters by illustrating the overall position of a...

In 2005 and early 2006 a number of proposals were put forward for restructuring the personal income tax system. Leslie Nielson provides an outline of these suggestions, and provides links to detailed expositions of specific proposals.