This report analyses the disproportionate use of school disciplinary absences on First Nations students, students with disability and students living in out-of-home care and the intersection with poverty. It positions the issue as not only a matter for education policy and practice, but one requiring systemic reform, emphasising inequitable system design over individual behaviour.

The age of artificial intelligence (AI) will be defined not only by the technologies it unleashes, but by the political choices made in response to them. This report warns that AI could deepen insecurity and inequality unless workers are given power over how technology is deployed.

Australia’s Baby Bonus, implemented from July 2004, provided a $3,000 payment for each newborn child, aiming to support families and boost fertility rates. Twenty years later, this paper explores whether the Baby Bonus shifted the course of these young people’s lives in a measurable way.

This report considers how place-based and culturally responsive teaching can be integrated into vocational education and training (VET) more effectively, leading to more meaningful outcomes for First Nations learners. The report identifies key elements of good practice in culturally responsive training delivered through place-based approaches, finding that effective approaches are Aboriginal led.

Australia’s 2026–27 Defence Budget commits the Commonwealth to spending approximately $181.9 million on defence every day. This report examines the Australian Government’s progress with, and spending on, the 2026 National Defence Strategy and the updated Integrated Investment Program. The series has, year after year, assessed what governments said they would do against what the books...