The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) has been touted as the biggest and most expensive social reform since Medicare. The Productivity Commission initially estimated that the NDIS would provide disability care and support services to 411,000 people at a cost of $13.5 billion (gross) every year. However, subsequent estimates have revised the cost of the...

Nuclear-powered submarines are safe and are the best option for Australia’s Future Submarine Project, argues this report. The Future Submarine Project – replacement of Australia’s 6 ailing Collins Class submarines with 12 Future Submarines – has a potential cost of $40 billion. The Future Submarine is likely to involve a substantially redesign of an existing...

This report presents speeches from a panel discussion on what the Sydney riot means for Australia's status as a peaceful and harmonious multicultural society. The riot on 15 September in the Sydney CBD by Muslim protestors angry the US film Innocence of Muslims shocked, but perhaps did not surprise, many Australians. For a number of...

The government is facing the arduous task of securing sustainable expenditure, revenue and debt beyond the current four-year horizon of the budget estimates, argues this report. Key findings: Long-term prospects for Australia’s public finances are not receiving the attention they deserve. It is one thing for Commonwealth and state governments to balance their budgets in...

There are approximately 2 billion English speakers globally, while English is spoken by about 800 million people in Asia and is widely used as an official language in the region. Multicultural Australia is also home to approximately 2.2 million speakers of Asian languages, including more than 650,000 speakers of Chinese languages, and extensive Asian cultural...