Debate over unequal access to information and communication technology services between regional and metropolitan Australia often focuses on infrastructure. But, as Jeffrey Robertson explains in this research note, infrastructure is just one aspect of a wider host of problems that reinforces the 'digital divide'.

The registration and collection aspects of the Child Support Scheme were introduced in 1988, and the formula for assessment in 1989. Although there have been numerous modifications to the formula over the years, the fundamentals remain unchanged. This report proposes a fundamental change to the Child Support Scheme.

This paper examines how distance and economic size influence the level of international trade. Parameters for an international gravity trade model are estimated and used to calculate annual expected aggregate trade for Australia over the last 20 years. This model also includes a new indicator of economic remoteness that statistically identifies each country's distance from...

The 2005 British election was held on 5 May. Scott Bennett reviews the campaign, the results and the fall-out, and looks at the controversy over Britain's first-past-the-post voting system.

Based on one definition of poverty, 9.3 per cent of all Australians are poor. The poverty rate varies widely between electorates, from 2.1 per cent in Bradfield (NSW) to 15.1 per cent in Braddon (Tas). The poverty rate estimates presented by Tony Kryger in this research note have been derived from experimental estimates of poverty...