This paper argues that government programs to upskill the Australian workforce for the Asian Century are a solution to a non-problem. With more than a million Asian-born Australians, millions of speakers of Asian languages, and an immigration program that sources a large share of new Australians from Asia, Australia has extensive and growing Asia-relevant capabilities...

High Indigenous incarceration rates have elicited a long list of so-called solutions over the years. Since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC), countless reports and programs have aimed to reduce the Indigenous incarceration rate. Yet the percentage of Aboriginal people in custody has continued to rise, nearly doubling from 14% of...

Key findings: The Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) and the Trends in International Maths and Science Study (TIMSS) are driving education policy in Australia. The implication of analyses of international assessments that compare school systems is that Australia could achieve equivalent performance levels if it adopted the policies of more successful countries. This is...

Since the Labor Government replaced WorkChoices with the Fair Work Act, many business leaders have complained that the new legislation has made the labour market inflexible and unworkable. Conversely, some union leaders have voiced their disappointment that the Fair Work Act did not go far enough in reversing the trend towards labour market liberalisation. So...

Australia’s approach to retirement incomes policy has three pillars: the means-tested age pension; compulsory superannuation; and voluntary saving, including saving via superannuation over and above that mandated by the superannuation guarantee. This paper examines the economic case for compulsory superannuation contributions and questions whether compulsory super is the most effective way of promoting household and...