Policy Monographs
Policy Monographs (PM) are pieces directly commenting on government policy, new programs or legislation.
Categories
Droughts and Flooding Rains: Water Provision for a Growing Australia
In the 2010 federal elections, the debate over Australia’s population surfaced once again. Groups concerned with the impacts of a growing population have focused on the life source of any settlement:...... Read More
How! Not How Much: Medicare Spending and Health Resource Allocation in Australia
This report traces the evolution of Australian health policy and its consequences across half a century. The public hospital 'crisis,' a political nightmare for all Australian governments, is a legacy...... Read More
Private Housing on Indigenous Lands
Legislation and programs to introduce private housing and businesses on Indigenous land are flawed. Tenure of Indigenous land should be amended to 999-year head leases with the provision for sub-leases...... Read More
Populate and Perish? Modelling Australia's Demographic Future
Since the publication of the 2010 Intergenerational Report, Australia has been debating its demographic future and whether it is desirable for the nation to grow to more than 35 million people by 2050....... Read More
The Rise of Religious Schools in Australia
Growth in the non-government school sector in Australia has been driven by religious schools, with the largest increases in Islamic schools and ‘fundamentalist’ Christian schools. This report examines...... Read More
Indigenous Education 2010
The 2009 NAPLAN literacy and numeracy tests confirm the continued failure of Indigenous education. The government's 'closing the gap' objectives will never be achieved unless real changes to policy are...... Read More
Superseding MMP: Real Electoral Reform for New Zealand
New Zealanders need to seize the opportunity of the upcoming referendum on electoral reform and reinvent their system of government. In Superseding MMP: Real Electoral Reform for New Zealand Luke Malpass...... Read More
The Unfinished Business of Australian Income Tax Reform
Robert Carling says the reform agenda for personal income tax should be to cut marginal tax rates; implement automatic indexation of thresholds for inflation; scale back the myriad selective tax breaks...... Read More
Indigenous Employment, Unemployment and Labour Force Participation: Facts for Evidence Based Policies
Professor Helen Hughes, Senior Research Fellow at the CIS and Mark Hughes highlight that Indigenous non-labour force participation is a much greater problem than unemployment. ‘Indigenous unemployment...... Read More
Behind the Moral Curtain: The Politics of a Charter of Rights
Elise Parham argues that a federal charter of rights would be used by special interest groups as a powerful political tool. Evidence emerging in the Australian Capital Territory and Victoria – which...... Read More
Closing the Accountability Gap: The First Step Towards Better Indigenous Health
Sara Hudson argues that the untargeted nature of government spending in indigenous health means that it is difficult to know what services the money is buying and for whom.... Read More
Like the Curate’s Egg: A Market-based Response and Alternative to the Bennett Report
The National Health and Hospital Reform Commission (NHHRC) has acknowledged the need to ensure health services are responsive to the needs of patients, and has recommended some very limited market-based...... Read More
Reforming Capital Gains Tax: The Myths and Reality behind Australia’s Most Misunderstood Tax
The implications of the Ralph Capital Gains Tax (CGT) reforms vary widely depending on the type of taxpayer, asset class, and inflation environment. This report examines the CGT and considers possible...... Read More
The Past is the Future for Public Hospitals: An Insider’s Perspective on Hospital Administration
Drawing on his vast experience, Dr Graham explains why the only future for public hospitals is to reclaim the best features of their past and reclaim their freedom from the clutches of the bureaucracies...... Read More
Ending the Churn: A Tax/Welfare Swap
John Humphreys argues that removing middle-class welfare in exchange for income tax cuts, the government could reduce tax and welfare by about $80 billion without leaving anybody worse off.... Read More
Family on the Edge: Stability and Fertility in Prosperity and Recession
Barry Maley argues that unless family law and policies rapidly change, family stability and a buoyant birth rate will be at risk with implications for the ageing of the population in the long term.... Read More
Why Public Hospitals Are Overcrowded: Ten Points for Policymakers
Despite the billions of taxpayer dollars poured into the public hospital system each year, public bed resources are only two-thirds of the OECD average and well below international par in every state. ...... Read More
Fiscal Rules for Limited Government: Reforming Australia’s Fiscal Responsibility Legislation
The paper outlines the rationale for fiscal responsibility legislation and a rules-based approach to fiscal policy. It examines the shortcomings of the existing CBH, showing how it has failed to prevent...... Read More
Fatally Flawed: The Child Protection Crisis in Australia
It is not underfunding or an overwhelming workload that has caused child protection services to fail the vulnerable children they exist to protect, it is the failure to investigate reports and remove children...... Read More
Will China Fail: The Limits and Contradictions of Market Socialism 2nd Edition
With the onset of the global economic crisis, China remains one of the only major economies likely to avoid recession. Released in 2007, the first edition of Will China Fail? probed the profound contradictions,...... Read More
