The Parliamentary Library has obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) unpublished Estimated Resident Population (ERP) data as at 30 June 2007 and 2008 for Commonwealth electoral divisions (or seats). This allows analysis of various aspects of population change for divisions over the period 2007 to 2008 on a consistent conceptual and geographic basis...

Calls to abolish or modify payroll tax are often heard. For example, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called for the abolition of payroll tax as part of wider tax reform. While several reasons are cited for abolishing or modifying payroll tax, a common reason is that payroll tax reduces employment. It is...

This background note focuses on citizenship within the context of Commonwealth legislation and does not attempt an analysis of the meaning of Australian citizenship or different theories of citizenship. Image: billh18 / Flickr

Emissions trading gets a lot of bad press. James Hansen, a leading advocate for climate change legislation, has rejected emissions trading altogether in favour of a carbon tax. In an open letter delivered on 29 December 2008 to then President-Elect Obama, Dr Hansen described cap-and-trade schemes as ‘ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat’...

This Background Note focuses on citizenship within the context of Commonwealth legislation and does not attempt an analysis of the meaning of Australian citizenship or different theories of citizenship.