This is the sixteenth edition of the Report, produced by a Steering Committee of senior officials from Australian, State and Territory governments for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The Steering Committee is chaired by Gary Banks, Chairman of the Productivity Commission.

Australia should seek new and liberating ways to bring together the arts, popular culture and the creative industries, according to this report. The report, funded by the Australia Council for the Arts and prepared by Professor Justin O’Connor of the Creative Industries Faculty at Queensland University of Technology, looks at ways in which the policy...

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has developed a wide-ranging agenda of national reforms. The Productivity Commission has been given the role of reporting to COAG periodically on the economic 'impacts and benefits' of the reforms. In preparation for its first report, the Commission has been requested to provide this framework report outlining its proposed...

This paper examines the debate over the importance of foods high in fat, sugar and salt in childhood obesity. It also looks at policy approaches to junk food in a number of countries and consequent actions taken to control or prohibit the influence of advertising. In particular, the paper notes recent Australian government approaches to...

Recent projections of higher than expected population growth in Australia over the next 40 years has refocused the attention of governments and communities on population policy, according to this paper, and yet a focused policy response has not yet emerged. With concerns about climate change, water availability, land degradation and urban growth increasing, there are...