This study investigated the impacts commuting costs have on accessing employment for low income workers who are renting their home.

In 2017, the Bureau of Communications and Arts Research found that the affordability of communications services in Australia had improved overall. In general, consumers were getting better value as prices stayed the same or fell, while product inclusions (such as data) increased. This paper updates...

This small, but in-depth study, followed the installation of solar PV in low-income households living in community rental housing in Melbourne's western suburbs. The research makes a valuable contribution to informing the development of effective mechanisms for delivery of affordable energy and alleviating energy poverty.

In the move towards low carbon living, the challenges faced by lower income groups are often overlooked. Recent rises in electricity costs disproportionate to income make this a more critical issue. Based on findings from focus group discussions with 164 lower income households and 18...

This paper considers interest rate caps, what is known about their use and impact in other jurisdictions, and how might they contribute to a fairer consumer credit regime in New Zealand.

100 Families WA is a collaborative research project aimed at understanding the lived experience of poverty, entrenched disadvantage and social exclusion. The first bulletin focuses on the health, economic and social impacts of hardship experienced by families in Perth, Western Australia.

This paper presents preliminary findings of a recent research project on the barriers that lower-income households in four Australian cities – Sydney, Adelaide, Hobart, and Darwin – face in reducing their carbon consumption, and the impact of programs implemented by federal and state governments and...

The Generation Effect tells the story of a generation whose hopes and dreams are shaped by an economy that no longer provides the job and income security that their parents and grandparents experienced. It is a story of the game of life getting harder, not...

The intractable maths of low income earners' family budgets pushes them towards the marginal credit products such as payday loans, consumer leases and debt management firms. This report argues that government can and should improve the terms under which these products are offered.

Australia leads the world with rapid small-scale adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) encouraged by feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) and rebates. The common business model for small-scale solar PV is designed around individual installation ownership requiring an upfront capital cost from the dwelling owner and rooftop capacity. These...