While overall our life expectancy continues to climb and our educational attainment increases, gaps remain between the health and education outcomes of Australians living in cities and those living elsewhere. Released quarterly, Australian Social Trends presents analysis and commentary on a wide range of social issues. The March edition includes the following articles: Health outside...

Increasing population pressure, natural climate variability and susceptibility to projected climate change impacts are placing ever-increasing strain on existing water infrastructure in Australia. This water infrastructure has generally focused on meeting urban water demand via a range of ‘low-energy’ approaches predominantly based on the capture and storage of surface runoff; however, this approach is proving...

Nutritious, safe, affordable and enjoyable food is a fundamental prerequisite for health. As a nation, Australia is currently classified as food secure with domestic production exceeding domestic consumption of most major food groups. However, the viability of the Australian food system sits counter to the continued presence of a stable and supportive climate. For Australia...

This paper identifies principles for carbon pricing that could attract a broad based and durable societal consensus in Australia. It applies these principles to a phased carbon pricing architecture as put forward by Australia’s Multi-­‐Party Committee on Climate Change, namely a government determined (fixed) carbon price transitioning to emissions trading. Linking to international carbon markets...

Taking an evolutionary economics perspective this paper makes the case as to why price mechanisms alone are insufficient to support new energy technologies coming to market. Much academic attention has been paid to the role of carbon pricing in developing a market-led response to low carbon energy innovation. Taking an evolutionary economics perspective this paper...