Some students who drop out of university never seriously engage with their course, and needlessly accrue a HELP debt before they leave. This report recommends new ways to protect students from unnecessary financial burdens.

The main purpose of this background paper is to provide additional information on the Grattan Institute’s statistical analysis of completion of bachelor degrees at public universities.

State governments have spent up to $20 billion more than was needed on the electricity grid, and households and businesses are paying for it through their power bills.

This report argues that if the major parties and politicians want to rebuild trust with voters, they will need to change the way they do politics: stop misusing their entitlements, strengthen political donations laws, tighten regulation of lobbyists, and slow the revolving door between political offices and lobbying positions.

Building an extra 50,000 homes a year for a decade could leave Australian house prices 5 to 20 per cent lower than they would be otherwise, and stem rising public anxiety about housing affordability, according to this Grattan Institute report.