The intractable maths of low income earners' family budgets pushes them towards the marginal credit products such as payday loans, consumer leases and debt management firms. This report argues that government can and should improve the terms under which these products are offered.

This report models a number of policy solutions that would reduce the amount people on low incomes spend on energy, in order to reduce their energy stress and support a faster transition to clean energy.

Australia leads the world with rapid small-scale adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) encouraged by feed-in-tariffs (FiTs) and rebates. The common business model for small-scale solar PV is designed around individual installation ownership requiring an upfront capital cost from the dwelling owner and rooftop capacity. These conditions are prohibitive for low-income households and renters. The unequal...

This report on electricity, gas and water disconnections has found disconnecting people from utilities because they can’t afford to pay their bills hurts families that are already struggling, worsens the hardship experienced by people who are already living with multiple forms of disadvantage, and is not an effective way of making people pay on time...

‘Forced Car Ownership’ (FCO) describes low income households with high car ownership, resulting in a high proportion of their income going to their cars. The cost of running multiple cars, combined with housing costs, puts considerable stress on low income households. Contemporary research has identified that FCO is one of the most prevalent social and...