This study is part of a continuing program of research into the performance of economic infrastructure industries, which was commenced by the Bureau of Industry Economics. It is the third Waterfront Benchmarking report in the cycle. The study builds on the two previous waterfront studies by...

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...

The Australian Government now has institutions and arrangements in place to identify areas of regulation that are unduly burdensome or ineffective and to develop appropriate reforms. However, the Productivity Commission research report, released 15 December 2011, indicated there was a need to...

The Productivity Commission’s third phase of the Education and Training Workforce study examined the workforce of the schools sector, this research report – Schools Workforce – was released on 4 May 2012. A well-performing school system is fundamental to building Australia’s ‘human...

The Commission’s submission to the Review of Pricing Arrangements for Residential Aged Care draws on earlier work, including its inquiry into Nursing Home Subsidies and a major conference on Policy Implications of the Ageing of Australia’s Population. The submission provides an assessment of...

On 21 March 2002 the Treasurer referred the post-2005 assistance arrangements for the automotive manufacturing sector to the Commission for inquiry and report. The Commission identified three options for the reduction of tariffs, with the Government accepting the Commission’s preference for...

With the expiry of the Pharmaceutical Industry Investment Program (PIIP) in 2004, the Commission was asked to conduct an evaluation of the program’s rationale, effectiveness and efficiency. The study commenced in August 2002. The Commission found that this assistance scheme had significant...

Structural Adjustment – Key Policy Issues highlights two challenging issues for policy advisers and policy makers alike — the evaluative framework used for assessing reform proposals and the development of implementation strategies to give effect to policy changes. The Commission argues that...

The paper reviews pastoral lease arrangements across jurisdictions in Australia and the extent to which these affect the emergence of non- pastoral land uses. Some comparisons are also made with pastoral lease arrangements in New Zealand, which has a history and pattern of pastoral lease...