There is currently no single overarching ‘health system’ in Australia. Rather, health care is a complex web of services, providers and structures. All levels of government—the Commonwealth, the States and Territories, and local government—share responsibility for health. They have different roles (funders, policy developers, regulators and service deliverers) and in many cases those roles are...

Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 6.3 per cent in November 2014, according to this report. Summary Australia's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate increased by less than 0.1 percentage points to 6.3 per cent in November 2014, as announced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) today. The seasonally...

An investigation by the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee into the criminal assaults perpetrated against individuals detained at the Manus Island Regional Processing Centre during the events of 16 to 18 February 2014. Referral of the inquiry On 5 March 2014, the Senate referred the following matter to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs...

Presents the latest data on adoptions of Australian children and children from overseas, and highlights important trends in the number of adoptions back to 1989–90. Summary Adoption numbers remained low The 317 adoptions considered to have been finalised in 2013-14 are the lowest annual number on record-a fall of 9% from the 348 adoptions in...

The Attorney-General, Senator the Hon George Brandis QC, has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to review Commonwealth legislation to identify provisions that unreasonably encroach upon traditional rights, freedoms and privileges. The Australian Law Reform Commission was asked to identify and critically examine Commonwealth laws that encroach upon ‘traditional’ or ‘common law’ rights, freedoms and...