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 research report, released on 16 May 2011, has identified wide-ranging differences in the ways all levels of government plan and zone land uses and assess development proposals.<p> In Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and...</p>

The Productivity Commission’s report - Early Childhood Development Workforce – released 1 December 2011, finds that many more workers will be required in preschool and long day care. Full implementation of the reforms will require an estimated 15,000 more workers than would otherwise have...

This Productivity Commission research report was released on 5 May 2011. This report, the first of a suite of three on the education and training workforce, focusses on the Vocational Education and Training workforce. Other reports will follow on the Early Childhood Development and Schools...

The Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a study on the ‘effective’ carbon prices that result from emissions and energy reduction policies in Australia and other key economies (the UK, USA, Germany, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea).<p> The...</p>

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Andrew Barker, Tim Murray and John Salerian) was released March 2010. Urban water and its management have been the subject of much public debate. The timing and choice of investments to augment water supply, different approaches to water...

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Matthew Forbes, Andrew Barker and Stewart Turner) was released March 2010. <p>Human capital theory supports the view that people with higher levels of education and lower incidences of chronic illness should have higher labour productivity....</p></p>

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Jacqueline Crowle and Erin Turner) was released in October 2010. Being overweight or obese as a child has implications for the child’s health now and as an adult. It is a policy concern in Australia and for governments internationally....

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Paula Barnes) examines sectoral investment in intangible assets in Australia following on from a previous paper on an examination of intangibles assets in the market sector as a whole. It highlights some significant issues relating to the...

This Productivity Commission staff working paper (by Anthony Shomos) was released in October 2010. Literacy and numeracy skills are key components of human capital, which is an important driver of economic growth. This paper utilises data from a 2006 survey on the literacy and numeracy skills of...