Governments have spent unprecedented sums on transport infrastructure in the last decade. But mostly, they have not spent it wisely. Some of the additional spending can be attributed to unusual events such as the mining boom, the Global Financial Crisis and the Queensland floods. But even leaving these aside, too much money has been spent...

Overview Reducing the thresholds at which former students repay their debt to the Higher Education Loan Program would increase repayments by an initial $500 million a year and more over time. Without change, HELP costs will soar, putting teaching and research at risk of cuts. An estimated $1.6 billion lent to students in 2014-15 –...

Learning gaps between Australian students of different backgrounds are alarmingly wide and grow wider as students move through school. SummaryThe gap between students whose parents have low education and those with highly educated parents grows from 10 months in Year 3 to around two-and-a-half years by Year 9. Even if they were doing as well...

Ineffective management of heart disease, asthma, diabetes and other chronic diseases costs the Australian health system more than $320 million each year in avoidable hospital admissions. At best, the Australian primary care system provides only half the recommended care for many chronic conditions. Only a quarter of the nearly one million Australians diagnosed with type...

Calls for changes to ensure patients are protected from out-of-pocket charges and taxpayers get to share the savings from economies of scale and efficiency gains. Summary The government could save up to $175 million a year by changing the way it pays for pathology testing and negotiating a fairer share of efficiency savings with industry...