Among its key recommendations, this report calls for: • Simplification and streamlining: the Privacy Act and related laws and regulations are highly detailed and complex, making it difficult for businesses to understand their obligations and for individuals to know their rights. A basic restructuring of the Act is required, focused on high-level principles of general...

This report focuses on competition in the Australian grocery sector. Specifically, the report asks whether a lack of competition is an explanation for the concerns identified above. The report analyses the extent to which competition (or a lack of it) has contributed to increased grocery prices. The supply chain and bargaining power of Coles, Woolworths...

Peacekeeping operations have become increasingly complex and multidimensional and today's peacekeepers face new challenges. This report identifies the main criteria against which Australian decision makers should assess whether or not to commit to a peacekeeping operation. The committee is of the view that the Australian government should be satisfied that the mission's mandate has: clearly...

As part of a broader examination of Australia's National Innovation System, this report examines Australia's Cooperative Research Centres program.

Births in Australia are at an historical high – with around 285 000 babies born in 2007. This corresponds to an estimated total fertility rate of 1.93 babies per woman, the highest since the early 1980s. This is not a one-off event as fertility rates have been generally rising for the last 6 years. Overall...