Opinion & Commentary
Opinion and Commentary contains media articles written by CIS researchers.
Categories
Gillard Deal Risks NDIS Timebomb
In its eagerness to lock in the funding and governance arrangements for the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), the Gillard government seems to have created a fiscal time bomb, where future federal... Read More
Only a super-style savings system now will help Medicare survive
THE intergenerational reports have told us repeatedly that escalating government spending on health is unsustainable in an ageing Australia. But despite the warnings about the future of the health system,... Read More
Extending NDIS poses threat
The age restrictions on the NDIS are crucial in maintaining the scheme’s financial integrity and maximising its benefits. Read More
Increasing Newstart would be a costly failure
An increase in the base rate of Newstart Allowance will not do much to break down the barriers to employment for the long term unemployed. Read More
Disability pension reform key to NDIS success
Reform of the disability support pension is necessary to maximise the benefits of the NDIS. Read More
Improving lives or just a welfare monster in the making?
There is a real danger the National Disability Insurance Scheme will be even bigger and more expensive than we imagine. Read More
The real solution to poverty: J-O-B-S, J-O-B-S, J-O-B-S
Moving people off welfare and into full-time jobs would do more to address poverty than increasing the value of welfare benefits. Read More
Government policy driving dole growth
The increasing number of people who are on the dole but are exempted from job-search requirements is a serious concern. Read More
Higher dole should come as bonus for serious job-seekers only
Higher dole should come as bonus for serious job-seekers only. Read More
The NDIS will cost us more than we’re being told
The National Disability Insurance Scheme presents an opportunity to re-evaluate current and future government expenditure in a moral light: Do they pass an “NDIS test”? Read More
Disability, injury insurance schemes need scrutiny
The National Injury Insurance Scheme is the forgotten little brother of the bigger, brighter and more popular National Disability Insurance Scheme, but that is no reason to ignore it. Read More
How to fund a disability scheme
First there was the carbon tax, then the mining tax, then the flood tax – and now calls for a national disability insurance scheme (NDIS) levy. Will the stream of new taxes and levies never end? Read More
Ability, not disability, should determine access to support
Blind people are exempt from certain income support tests, and this anomaly should stop.Blind people are exempt from certain income support tests, and this anomaly should stop Read More
Disability employment: noble cause, failed policy
The National Disability Recruitment Coordinator program is the latest in a series of policy failures from the Government. Read More
Tighten the rules on welfare payments
There is more to welfare reform than amalgamating the benefits. Read More
Child protection: generation lost by not being 'stolen'
It is incredibly simplistic and misleading to blame the serious problems many troubled children experience on the decision to take them into care. Read More
Let's start to expect greater outcomes
Fewer than half of Australians with a disability are employed. But we know that given the right help many people, even those with serious disabilities, can work. Read More
Mandatory reporting has not failed children
Far from the failure it is made out to be, mandatory reporting by police, education and health professionals of children at risk of harm has worked incredibly well. Read More
Open up debate on welfare
Poor people are often those who miss out on adequate health care: people who can’t afford to go to private hospitals and don’t have the capability to advocate for themselves. Read More
Italy defaults on debt and sends lenders broke? So be it
The federal government will need to cut spending to ensure a surplus in 2012-13. Read More
Liberals Drop Ball in Super Free-For-All
Lifting superannuation to 12% is wrong. Read More
Care system still abusing forgotten children.
In 2009 the federal parliament apologised to the Forgotten Australians who were physically, sexually, and emotionally abused in state and charitable-run orphanages between the 1920s and 1970s. The national... Read More
Changing expectations of Aboriginal school attendance
If my son wasn't hassled every time he was late to school then he would probably continue to be late. If there were no consequences, then despite the carrot of a real job one day, he like many remote Indigenous... Read More
The welfare revolution that has passed disability pensioners by
Unemployment has fallen. Single parents are returning to the workforce in droves. Yet the number of people on Disability Support Pension - currently more than 800,000 - continues to climb – it has to... Read More
We must crack down on the Disability Support Pension
The number of people on the Disability Pension Scheme must be reduced. Read More
Paid leave for dads a useless, cynical waste of money
Getting dads more involved in parenting is a noble goal. Unfortunately, there is very little evidence that paid paternity leave will help realise it. Read More
Women's rights push dads aside
This is the disturbing significance of the controversial NSW birth certificate decision. That no gay spokesperson has expressed concern for the father and child stolen from each other speaks volumes about... Read More
Degrees of difference
Many people have taken umbrage at this arguing that having a separate form for some remote communities is an example of 'positive discrimination'. Few people seem to understand the broader implications... Read More
Brits recoil from teaching respect for authority at home or school
Following last week's riots in Britain, politicians and commentators have similarly been asking the wrong question. What caused thousands of (mainly) young males to torch buildings where they live, loot... Read More
Census apartheid: separate form separates a community
The use of a separate Census form for some discrete Indigenous communities is not only state-sanctioned apartheid but statistically invalid. Read More
OOHC not working for at-risk kids
The causes of the OHHC crisis care are multifaceted. But the consensus among experts is that at the heart of the crisis is the increasing numbers of children with 'high needs' entering care because of... Read More
Those who can work must not be paid to sit at home
Job seekers with low attachment to the labour force should be required to work for the dole. Read More
Helping mentally ill go back to work a win for all
Unless we find a better way to keep people with mental illness in the workforce, the number of disability pensioners will balloon. Read More
A disability insurance scheme offers clear benefits
The Productivity Commission's disability insurance scheme is promising but demands hardline decisions from the government. Read More
Welfare reforms are worthwhile, but not an easy budget fix
The best way to get unskilled workers into work is to find them an unskilled job – not try to train them for a skilled position they may never get. Read More
Migration needs serious debate
Australia became a successful nation of immigrants because the egalitarianism that is central to its national character -- the principle that Jack is as good as his mate -- was extended by "old Australians"... Read More
Paid parental leave adds to dilemma of family benefits
Can we afford to keep expanding an ever more generous system of benefits for middle- and high-income families, or do we need to get more bang for our buck? Read More
For the poor, a job must pay better than handouts
The British government is taking a gamble with its welfare to work program. Read More
Leftist class chatter no longer matters in UK
Intellectuals love to peddle the myth of an unfair, privileged society, but they're wrong. Read More
Disability payment should not be de facto dole
Our welfare system should not assume that disabled people can't be in paid employment. Read More
Why Europe is the wrong model for paid parental leave
If we can draw one lesson from the experience of Britain and the other European states now forced into austerity, it is that the cost of new entitlements and promises gradually add up— until suddenly... Read More
Britons brace for age of austerity
The British government is looking to the Australian model for welfare reforms. Read More
Alternatives to a life on welfare
The Disability Support Pension (DSP) has become a one-way ticket. The government is trying to reduce the number of people who go onto DSP, but what it should be doing is improving the incentive for existing... Read More
Antidote to welfare dependency
The federal government’s extension of income management across the country, announced late last year, reflects a new consensus in Australia and internationally about the pernicious effects on individuals... Read More
Some kids really need to be rescued
As a researcher your gut always churns when you are about to release a new report, but when the Centre for Independent Studies published my report on child protection earlier this year, it was something... Read More
Motivate those on hand-outs
The Rudd government’s approach to sole-parent families, as with that of its predecessor, is that the best form of welfare is a job. This tactic is paying dividends. Read More
We’re wasting billions on tax churn
By pulling the middle class into the welfare net, the government is crowding out civil society and undermining personal responsibility, self-esteem, and social capital. Ultimately, our current welfare... Read More
Create a welfare system we can afford
The government recently increased the pension by up to $65 per fortnight, but the pressure for ever higher welfare benefits continues. The Greens asked for $200 per fortnight, while the Australia Institute... Read More
The training merry-go-round may be worse than nothing at all
Short of directly hiring more public servants, it is very difficult – impossible even – for governments to create real, sustainable jobs. Read More
Living off the public teat
Until the 1970s Australians were remarkably self-reliant. Unemployment was low, home ownership was widespread, and wages were generally high enough for workers to support themselves and their dependents... Read More
Welfare for parents increases risk of poverty
It's time to eliminate the welfare incentives that keep single parents out of the workforce, a strategy most Australians agree with, argues Peter Saunders. Read More
Pay increases don't help the unemployed
A few weeks ago, the Australian Council of Trade Unions announced yet another 'living wage' claim. It plans to seek, in 2003, a $24.60 per week pay rise for all award workers, bringing the minimum wage... Read More
Time to care for ourselves: Instead of a welfare state, it would be cheaper and more efficient if we each made our own arrangements
The welfare state has developed over a hundred years. In this time, increasing numbers of people have become dependent upon it, not just as consumers but also as producers and managers of its services. ... Read More
Poverty lines tangled: An influential report claiming that one in eight Australians lives in poverty is wrong
Our paper, Poor Arguments: A Response to the Smith Family Report on Poverty in Australia - questioning the claims that one in eight Australians is living in poverty today, and that poverty has risen in... Read More
For richer or poorer, we're still a lucky country: Don't exaggerate the extent of poverty in Australia
The Australian economy experienced remarkable growth during most of the 1990s. Yet social researchers are still claiming that poverty is extensive – and even that it is getting worse. The latest... Read More