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...

In December 2002, the Commission released the proceedings of its August 2002 workshop on Managed Competition. The workshop was organised to provide an opportunity for a more detailed discussion by a group of leading health policy analysts of the proposal by Dr Richard Scotton of a 'managed...

In this report commissioned by the Australian Government, the Commission found that claims management practices for public liability insurance should not prevent benefits from recent government policy changes being passed onto consumers. The Commission found that the market environment in which...

This paper was one input to the Australian Government's decision to remove tariffs on imports from the least developed countries. The Commission's analysis suggests that removing tariffs on imports from these countries could significantly boost imports from these countries, particularly of...

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...

In March 2011, the Productivity Commission hosted a roundtable on the theme A ‘Sustainable' Population? — Key Policy Issues. The proceedings have been released to enable public access to the papers and discussion, and insights that emerged.In his opening remarks, Productivity Commission...

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...

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. Over one million older Australians receive aged care services. The range...

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.In 'Performance Benchmarking of Australian Business Regulation: Planning, Zoning and...

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, focuses on the Vocational Education and Training workforce. Other reports will follow on the Early Childhood Development and Schools...