This e-Brief covers many of the developments that have occurred since the Kyoto meeting to the near finalisation of all outstanding issues at the COP7 meeting at Marrakesh in late 2001. It now appears that the required threshold number of countries willing to ratify the Protocol to allow it to come into effect has been...

This Current Affairs Brief examines the "multiple functions" of agriculture -- including food security, environmental protection and the viability of rural areas -- and the debate underway for the present World Trade Organization Round. It considers the parties to the debate, summarises the underlying issues and discusses the components of multifunctionality -- putting all of...

The recent Victorian state budget received rave reviews from the social sector on the day it was brought down last month. But how good was it? asks David Hayward in his post-budget analysis for the Victorian Council of Social Service.

This paper explains what cloning and stem cell research are, canvasses the ethical issues associated with such work, and outlines the regulatory framework in which it operates. The issues of human cloning and stem cell research introduce terms which are not necessarily in every day use. It is important to understand that the human body...

Ministers hold positions of power and influence. Some of the knowledge they acquire might be of a confidential nature, or could confer on them advantages if subsequently, as private citizens, they were to work in an area related to their former responsibilities. This Research Note examines Australian and overseas examples of the regulation of post-separation...