The Productivity Commission inquiry report, released 8 August 2011, recommends a major overhaul of Australia’s aged care system to improve the wellbeing of older Australians and meet the challenges of an ageing population.<p> Over one million older Australians receive aged care services. The...</p>

The Productivity Commission inquiry report — Disability Care and Support — was released on 10 August 2011. Current disability support arrangements are inequitable, underfunded, fragmented, and inefficient and give people with a disability little choice. They provide no certainty that people...

The Productivity Commission’s inquiry report — Australia’s Urban Water Sector — was released in October 2011. In recent times, the urban water sector has faced drought, growing populations and ageing assets. Governments have largely responded with prolonged and severe water restrictions...

Through the Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), rural industries and the Australian Government together invest some $490 million a year in R&D. This co-investment model has important strengths, including: helping to ensure that public money is not spent on research of little...

In 2008, the Australian Government deregulated the marketing of bulk wheat exports by removing the ‘single desk’ operated by AWB (International) Limited. Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) was established under the Wheat Export Marketing Act 2008 (WEMA) to administer an accreditation scheme for...

This Productivity Commission inquiry report was released on 12 October 2012. Default superannuation arrangements for those employees who derive their default superannuation product in accordance with modern awards have provided market stability, and net returns of default funds have generally...

There are almost 140 000 retail businesses in Australia, accounting for 4.1 per cent of GDP and 10.7 per cent of employment. Both current trading conditions and longer term trends are challenging. Retail sales growth has trended down over the past half-decade as consumers save more of their...

This inquiry report was released on 27 May 2010. The Australian anti-dumping system, which is based on agreed WTO rules and procedures, benefits a small number of import competing firms, but imposes greater costs on the rest of the economy. <p>However, this net economic cost is likely to be very...</p>

This inquiry report was released on 23 June 2010. Gambling was substantially liberalised in most Australian states and territories in the 1990s. Subsequent years saw not only a surge in gambling expenditure and industry growth, but also adverse impacts on many Australians and their families. The...

The Productivity Commission’s inquiry report into the ‘Conservation of Australia’s Historic Heritage Places’, was tabled in Parliament on 21 July 2006. The Commission was asked to examine the policy framework and incentives for the conservation of Australia’s historic built heritage...