Research
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The great superannuation tax concession rortSuperannuation is the most concessionally-taxed investment in Australia with contributions, fund earnings and payouts all receiving concessional treatment. According to Treasury, the effective marginal tax rate on superannuation savings is highly negative. This paper discusses how superannuation could be reformed to make it more equitable. -
Wong must cap and sliceThe CPRS in its current form is deeply flawed. If the government wants to see the legislation passed, it is going to have to amend its proposal. In order to take advantage of every additional emissions reduction and allow every concerned citizen to make a direct contribution, the government needs to convert its 'cap and trade' scheme to a 'cap and slice' scheme, whereby the number of pollution permits are reduced each year directly in line with t... -
An idea whose time never cameIt is often said that there is nothing more powerful than an idea whose time has come. But it seems that in the case of Minister Wong's version of emissions trading, the so called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), there is nothing more pitiful than an idea whose time never actually came. The targets are not based on science, 90 per cent of the permits needed by the biggest polluters are being given away and the price is capped rather than... -
Left and right agree carbon tax is betterThe CPRS is looking more and more like a hotted up second hand car. It sounded good in the advertisement, had all the fancy bits added on and looked really shiny and ready to go. Unfortunately the closer you look at it, the less reliable it gets. It might not be as fancy, but an old fashioned carbon levy would be a much more reliable way of getting from A to B, especially in these troubled economic times. -
Making life easier for emittersThe unfortunate reality is that, having waited a decade for a government to express a willingness to do something about climate change, we are now faced with a choice between a policy that locks us into failure by dictating that emissions in Australia cannot fall by more than five per cent and abandoning the CPRS altogether. What could we do instead? The simplest thing to do in the short term is to introduce a carbon tax of around $25 per tonne.... -
Setting the record straight on telemarketingHow annoyed does the community need to get before further restrictions can be placed on telemarketing, junk mail and street spruiking? And which is more important, the interests of direct marketing companies or the views of the wider public? These are the kinds of issues that The Australia Institute sought to raise through its research. So far, ADMA has declined to engage with them in any meaningful way. -
Sloppy superDebates about superannuation policy are often ideological in tone.People in finance and investment circles tend to forget that the majority of Australians are profoundly disengaged from their super, at least until they approach retirement. The super system is so complicated that many workers take the simplest option – doing nothing. Governments therefore have a responsibility to examine how people really behave and to structure policy accordingly... -
Reclaiming your time from telemarketersTelemarketing is one form of 'direct marketing', along with junk mail, spam and face-to-face marketing. Direct marketing differs from 'traditional' advertising in making a much stronger claim on our attention. Members of the public have to take deliberate action if they wish to avoid direct marketing, but Institute research indicates that an 'opt-in' system would be more effective in reducing the social costs of direct marketing. -
In a man's working world parental leave should be about fathers, tooOriginally printed in the Sydney Morning Herald.Under the Productivity Commission's parental leave proposal, men are entitled to two weeks' paternity leave (use it or lose it), and mothers would be allowed to transfer their 18-week entitlement to their partners. It leaves the important decision about who provides primary care up to individual families and, by including women and men, the proposal raises the bar. At last men are becoming visible i... -
NGO Advocacy way of FutureNon-government organisations contribute to the Australian community in a myriad of ways, creating a rich, supportive and inclusive community. They help produce an active and vibrant democracy and they provide representation to marginalised members of the community. NGOs can also inform public debate, rendering it more substantive and less likely to be captured by business or more powerful members of the community. A shift in cultural attitudes, i...