The Abbott Government made important changes to Australia’s Official Development Assistance (ODA) programs, following its election in September 2013. Large reductions in funding, foreshadowed in the Coalition’s September 2013 pre-election costings, commenced in January 2014. A further series of funding cuts were announced in the December 2014 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) and implemented...

Amid the Philippine Government’s ongoing campaign of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and addicts, and reports that Indonesia is looking to emulate aspects of this approach, it is timely to recall similar previous anti-crime campaigns in south-east Asia.

Professor Ian Harper released the final Report of the Competition Policy Review (‘the Harper Review’) on 31 March 2015, making 56 recommendations to government. On 24 November 2015, the Turnbull Government released its response to the Harper Review, supporting 39 of the recommendations either in full or in principle, and a further five recommendations in...

The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) provides support to people with disability, their families and carers. It is jointly governed and funded by the Australian and participating states and territory governments. The NDIS is being introduced across Australia from July 2016, except in Western Australia where it is still being trialled. The main component of...

Introduction This research paper provides a brief overview of the rules for determining the next Commonwealth, state, territory and local government elections. The paper lists the date of the next election where this is fixed or, where applicable, the earliest and latest possible dates on which it may occur.