In August 2002, the Commission was asked to look at the economic and social importance of the different industries in the Great Barrier Reef and its catchment. The Commission also would evaluate the costs and benefits of actions to address declining water quality which currently threatens the...

'Constraints on Private Conservation of Biodiversity' was released on 18 July 2001. Conserving biodiversity is essential to maintain ecosystems to support life. It is also important for a range of economic, social and cultural reasons. However, biodiversity is under threat from a range of...

This Productivity Commission staff working paper, 'Modelling Water Trade in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin', was released in November 2004. It examines the likely economic impacts of expanding water trade in the southern Murray-Darling Basin. The paper uses TERM-Water, a bottoms-up regional...

Australian, state and territory regimes came under review for the Commission's inquiry into native vegetation and biodiversity regulations. The Commission's preliminary findings were released for public comment in December 2003. It found that the cost of farm regulations could be reduced if good...

The joint conference paper, 'Third-party effects of water trading and potential policy responses' by Anna Heaney (ABARE), Gavan Dwyer (PC), Stephen Beare (ABARE), Deborah Peterson (PC) and Lili Pechey (ABARE), was presented to the American Agricultural Economics Association conference,...

"Creating Markets for Biodiversity: A Case Study of Earth Sanctuaries Ltd" by Barbara Aretino, Paula Holland, Deborah Peterson and Michael Schuele was released on 4 September 2001. The study was carried out at the invitation of Environment Australia and the OECD. This paper examines the...

"Cost Sharing for Biodiversity Conservation: A Conceptual Framework" by Barbara Aretino, Paula Holland, Anna Matysek and Deborah Peterson was released on 11 May 2001, similtaneously with the consultancy report A Duty of Care for the Protection of Biodiversity on Land. The paper discusses the...

The Productivity Commission's inquiry report into The Private Cost Effectiveness of Improving Energy Efficiency, was released on 21 October 2005. The Commission was asked to report on the economic and environmental potential offered by energy efficiency improvements. The Commission found that...

The Productivity Commission's inquiry report into the "Conservation of Australia's Historic Heritage Places," was released on 21 July 2006. The Commission was asked to examine the policy framework and incentives for the conservation of Australia's historic built heritage places. Some key...

The conference paper, 'Integrating rural and urban water markets in south east Australia: Preliminary analysis' by Gavan Dwyer, Paul Loke, David Appels, Susan Stone and Deborah Peterson, was presented to the OECD Workshop on Agriculture and Water: Sustainability, Markets and Policies Adelaide,...