Extended producer responsibility, or EPR, is an environmental policy approach in which a producer's responsibility, physical and/or financial, for a product is extended to the post-consumer stage of a product's life cycle. In the paper Stewart Smith canvasses the application of EPR, including container deposit legislation, in efforts to reduce the volume of waste disposal...

Australian governments engaged in a major reform program in the 1990s, culminating in the formation of the National Electricity Market (NEM) which commenced operation on 13 December 1998. Today, the NEM supplies electricity to 7.7 million Australian customers on an interconnected national grid that runs through Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria...

Stewart Smith reviews recent inquries into transport-related issues in New South Wales, and places them into the perspective of the development of the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy. Transport is a complex issue world wide, and in the United Kingdom various strategies have been implemented to increase the sustainability of transport networks. This paper reviews these measures...

The commercial sex industry in NSW continues to attract media attention as communities throughout the state grapple with the vexed issue of where to locate legal brothels. This report reviews the regulatory environment in other states. In NSW, brothels need town planning permission only. Somewhat ironically, critics of the 'lax' regulatory environment in NSW make...

This briefing paper, by Stewart Smith, discusses contemporary regional policy in relation to urban regions around the Greater Sydney Metropolitan Area.