In the 1980s the Australian Personal Income Tax was highly progressive and family payments were universal. The system ranked well in terms of gender equity and female labour supply incentives. During the Howard years the progressivity of the rate scale declined dramatically despite rising inequality in wages, income and wealth, and the individual as the...

This discussion paper emerges from a series of events held by Per Capita with Melody Barnes in February 2016. Melody Barnes served as Assistant to US President Obama and Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council from 2009 to January 2012. Ms Barnes is now the Chair of the Aspen Institute’s Forum for Community...

Professor Stephen Parker AO, Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Canberra, presented the keynote address to the TJ Ryan Foundation's second anniversary event held in Brisbane on Tuesday, 16 February 2016. The TJ Ryan Foundation is a progressive think tank focussing on Queensland public policy and public administration. Professor Parker's speech addressed changes over...

This paper argues that an estate tax would make a useful contribution to the government’s tax armoury. The aging of the population means that the tax base is likely to be expanding well into the future. In addition the estate duty is useful because it is levied at a time when the one who accumulated...

Oxfam Australia CEO Helen Szoke claims the inequality gap between the rich and poor is widening faster than previously thought.