This paper explores the hypothesis that growth of government has become self-sustaining through the emergence of a segment of the population that both enjoys sufficient direct support from government and is large enough that political parties shape policies to curry its favour.

This briefing paper explains the Open Budget Index (OBI) in more detail and discusses the state of budget transparency, participation and oversight in Australia, regionally and globally.

The Australia Institute has released new analysis of a list, compiled by the Department of Finance and distributed to crossbench Senators, outlining large companies that may benefit from the further company tax cuts for big business. The list was released under Freedom of Information laws.

This project provides another example of the returns to government from small changes informed by behavioural insights. BETA partnered with the Australian Tax Office (ATO) to reduce work-related expense claims by $2.2 million and increase tax paid by $0.9 million with a simple letter sent to tax agents using social comparisons.

This study focused on the Australian private rental sector including formal rules (policies and regulation); organisations and structures; and informal rules (social norms and practices), and reviewed the sector in ten countries.