The OECD has found that Australia’s economic performance is not as strong as might be expected given the strength of its economic policy settings. Differences in geography – distance to world markets, natural resource endowments, and population settlement patterns – help explain differences in economic performance across OECD countries. But these findings reinforce, rather than...

This report is an independent review of Australia’s quarantine and biosecurity arrangements which outlines a plan to set up a new national authority, bringing together quarantine, biosecurity and parts of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

A taxpayer-funded parental leave scheme of 18 weeks at the adult minimum wage ($544 per week) would benefit around 140,000 mothers and their newborn children each year and yield community-wide gains in the long term, according to this draft report. The scheme also provides for two weeks’ paid leave to over 225,000 eligible fathers. The...

The ageing of Australia’s population will call for the provision of aged care services to much larger numbers of people over the next few decades. Services will also need to meet the challenges posed by the increasing diversity of older people in terms of their care needs, preferences and affluence. It is clearly important that...

A number of broad issues relating to the impact of taxation incentives for the establishment carbon sink forests were examined during the committee's consideration of this legislation.