In the early decades of the 19th century, Indigenous Australians suffered devastating losses at the hands of British colonists, who largely ignored their sovereignty and even their humanity. At the same time, however, a new wave of Christian humanitarians were arriving in the colonies, troubled by Aboriginal suffering and arguing that colonists had obligations towards...

This document is an analysis of how policy has interacted with vocational education and training (VET) in Australia, with a particular focus on the period since the 1980s. It is accompanied by a timeline which sets out key policy documents that shaped the development of the VET system and by a list of Australian Prime...

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has developed a wide-ranging agenda of national reforms. The Productivity Commission has been given the role of reporting to COAG periodically on the economic 'impacts and benefits' of the reforms. In preparation for its first report, the Commission has been requested to provide this framework report outlining its proposed...

Mature aged women have greatly increased their participation in paid employment over the past three decades. This report looks at the causes and impact of this continuing trend. The contribution to total hours worked by people of working age of women aged 45 to 64 years has increased from just over 6 per cent in...

Recent projections of higher than expected population growth in Australia over the next 40 years has refocused the attention of governments and communities on population policy, according to this paper, and yet a focused policy response has not yet emerged. With concerns about climate change, water availability, land degradation and urban growth increasing, there are...