In 2008, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) identified the upstream petroleum (oil and gas) sector as one of many ‘hotspot’ areas where overlapping and inconsistent regulation threatens to impede economic activity, and agreed that the Productivity Commission should undertake a...

Key Points extract: • The Australian Government’s statutory paid parental leave scheme should be taxpayer-funded, and should: – provide paid postnatal leave for a total of 18 weeks that can be shared by eligible parents, with an additional two weeks of paternity leave reserved for the...

The Productivity Commission's report on regulatory burdens on the primary sector - released today - identifies a number of ways to reduce unnecessary burdens on farmers and miners and other primary sector producers arising from Commonwealth regulations. The report - Annual Review of Regulatory...

Most urban households face severe restrictions on their use of water. These impose hidden costs that could amount to billions of dollars each year. Australia's urban water shortages are only partly due to low rainfall. An important contributor has been inadequate institutional arrangements for...

While Australian pigmeat producers are feeling pressure from substantially higher feed costs, in the Productivity Commission's assessment these circumstances do not meet the WTO criteria for safeguards action. The WTO Safeguards Agreement requires evidence that significant increases in imports...

The Commission's modelling indicates that there would be economy-wide benefits from further reductions in the relatively high tariffs on TCF imports. Assistance reductions would involve some further contraction of the TCF sector, but this would be outweighed by expansion of other industries...

In its annual report, the Productivity Commission focuses on the scope to raise labour force participation rates and the policy challenges involved. Commission chairman, Gary Banks observed: 'Australia has relatively low participation rates by OECD standards and also underutilises its workforce....

The Productivity Commission's inquiry report into 'Tasmanian Freight Subsidy Arrangements' was tabled in Parliament in May 2007. The Commission was asked to report on arrangements for subsidising containerised and bulk shipping between the mainland and Tasmania and to recommend an appropriate...

The Productivity Commission released its latest report on the 'Financial Performance of Government Trading Enterprises 2004-05 to 2005-06' in July 2007. The report provides information on the financial performance of 85 Australian, State and Territory Government trading enterprises (GTEs) and...

The Productivity Commission Staff Working Paper, 'Precaution and the Precautionary Principle: Two Australian Case Studies' (by Annette Weier and Paul Loke), was released in September 2007. The Precautionary Principle was conceived as a response to the inherent difficulties faced by decision...