This report assesses the Severe Domestic Squalor Project, which aims to facilitate holistic assessment and support for people who are living in squalor; foster sustainable solutions for clients; and educate service providers. The report concludes that the program provided high quality services to an underserviced and vulnerable group of people, and that a commitment of...

In December 2008, the federal government received the Review of Australian Higher Education: Final Report, prepared by a policy review committee chaired by former Vice-Chancellor Denise Bradley. The education minister, Julia Gillard, has indicated that she will give her response to it in early March 2009. One of the Bradley report’s key recommendations is to...

Which electorates receive targeted funding, and does targeted funding swing votes? To answer these questions, the author analyzes four discretionary programs funded by the Australian federal government during the 2001-2004 election cycle. Controlling for relevant demographic characteristics of the electorate, those electorates held by the governing coalition received a larger share of discretionary funding, and...

In 2007, The Cancer Council Australia, with co-sponsorship from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing, convened a national roundtable discussion on human papillomavirus (HPV) immunisation and its impact on the National Cervical Screening Program. HPV immunisation has the potential to prevent strains of HPV that cause 70% of cervical cancers. The immunisation program must...

Commonwealth financial assistance grants to local government take the forms of general purpose grants, and grants for roads known as identified local road grants. The level of assistance has been declining as a proportion of gross domestic product because the formula used to calculate assistance does not provide growth in the real level of per...