Policy Monographs
Policy Monographs (PM) are pieces directly commenting on government policy, new programs or legislation.
Categories
Breaking the Cycle of Family Joblessness
Solving the problem of high family joblessness will require reform of the welfare, tax, and industrial relations systems.... Read More
Revisiting Indigenous Education
Aboriginal and Torres Islander children in remote communities must not be viewed as ‘different’ from other Australian children. So long as cultural traits justify the removal of children from mainstream...... Read More
Bubble Poppers: Monetary Policy and the Myth of ‘Bubbles’ in Asset Prices
The monograph considers some of the practical problems that are likely to be encountered in implementing an activist approach to asset prices. These difficulties help explain why historical attempts to...... Read More
From Rhetoric to Reality: Can 99-year Leases Lead to Homeownership for Indigenous Communities?
The lack of private property rights on communal title land has prevented Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders from becoming homeowners.... Read More
Radical Surgery: The Only Cure for New South Wales Hospitals
Wolfgang Kasper argues that the hospital malaise can only be remedied by removing the central, bureaucratic control of hospitals and creating opportunities for spontaneous, decentralised and customer-oriented...... Read More
A Streak of Hypocrisy: Reactions to the Global Financial Crisis and Generational Debt
Dr Jeremy Sammut says that ‘household savings have collapsed due to an unnecessary dependence on welfare handouts. A new era of thrift is overdue!’... Read More
Harmacy: The Political Economy of Community Pharmacy in Australia
The regulatory environment that governs community pharmacy has created one of Australia’s most protected industries. It is a beneficiary of government largesse and central regulation and control in state,...... Read More
Capital Xenophobia II: Foreign Direct Investment in Australia, Sovereign Wealth Funds, and the Rise of State Capitalism
Stephen Kirchner offers a timely analysis of Australia’s foreign investment regime and gives his ideas on how to improve this critical ingredient for Australia's prospective stability, prosperity, and...... Read More
The Faulty Arguments Behind Australia’s Corporate Tax
This paper investigates Australian corporate tax and highlights a number of issues that deserve greater public awareness.... Read More
CDEP: Help or Hindrance? The Community Development Employment Program and its Impact on Indigenous Australians
Established more than thirty years ago, the Community Development Employment Projects (CDEP) program has expanded to range from substituting for local government services to offering payment for housework...... Read More
The False Promise of GP Super Clinics Part 2: Coordinated Care
The report’s author Jeremy Sammut examines the evidence for the Rudd government’s plan to use GP Super Clinics to boost prevention of chronic disease and ‘take the pressure off public hospitals’...... Read More
The False Promise of GP Super Clinics: Part 1: Preventive Care
Dr Jeremy Sammut examines the evidence for preventive care programs to help make the Medicare system sustainable, given the demands of the ageing of Australia’s population, the rising chronic disease...... Read More
Indigenous Education in the Northern Territory
The causes of failing education—inequitable school facilities, inappropriate curriculums, and inadequate teaching—in Aboriginal schools are well known. Unfortunately, these causes have not been addressed...... Read More
State Tax Reform: Progress and Prospects
This paper analyses the state taxation issues in further detail. After reviewing various reform options, it outlines the key features of what a much improved state tax system would look like.... Read More
Fiscal Illusion: How Big Government Makes Tax Look Small
Sinclair Davidson in this paper canvasses an issue that cuts across all taxes and all levels of government: fiscal illusion and how it contributes to the growth of the state. Exposing the policies and...... Read More
Exploring a Carbon Tax for Australia
It is not a foregone conclusion that we need a carbon trading scheme or a carbon tax. Humphreys provides much food for thought on the nature of the optimal policy response and how it can fit in with broader...... Read More
The Coming Crisis of Medicare: What the Intergenerational Reports should say, but doesn’t, about health and ageing
The demographic and medical realities of the twenty-first century mean that Medicare can no longer provide every citizen with ‘free’ access to all the new medicine. Without reform, healthcare in...... Read More
Tax Competition: Much To Do About Very Little
Sinclair Davidson challenges the notion of ‘harmful’ international tax competition. He argues that in the sphere of taxation, as elsewhere, competition should be welcomed as a force for good, not stifled...... Read More
Tax Earmarking Is It Good Practice?
This Monograph critically analyses the use of earmarked (or ‘hypothecated’) taxes in Australia.... Read More
The Organisation of Residential Aged Care for an Ageing Population
At the heart of this new paper is the re-assertion of the need for a system of accommodation bonds. Hogan reiterates that a key factor limiting the supply of extra beds is the high cost of developing new...... Read More
