Become a Member Donate Now

• Government Spending

Governments spend taxpayers’ money on a wide range of programmes from education to defence and from welfare to infrastructure. Yet there can be too much of a good thing, and some government spending is just wasteful. How can we ensure that taxpayers are getting value for money?

Business Means Business. Why Corporates Should Avoid Social Activism
Simon Cowan, Emilie DyeJuly 18, 2024AP72
Senior management should be concerned they are putting their companies at risk of reputational harm...
NSW Parliament coat of arms budget
Nothing pretty about a post-pandemic budget
Robert CarlingJune 21, 2024SPECTATOR FLAT WHITE

The New South Wales Budget tabled this week completes the series of 2024-25 budgets from...

A blatant and cynical vote-buying budget
Robert CarlingJune 12, 2024AFR

Vote-buying measures before difficult elections are hardly without precedent, but the Queensland state government’s drip-feed...

The problem is whether the legitimate economic concerns of the public can - or should - manifest in monetary policy.
The RBA has to dole out pain. Not everyone can be a winner here
Simon CowanJune 1, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

This week’s news that inflation had risen for April was no doubt an unwelcome, and...

scales
Budget Fails Important Policy Tests
Robert Carling, Gene TunnyMay 28, 2024IA150
The deficit budgeted for 2024-25, amounting to over $28 billion ($28,000 million), translates to a...
CPI
‘Too clever by half’ Treasurer tries to hack the CPI
Gene TunnyMay 18, 2024CANBERRA TIMES

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has delivered a budget shaped by the upcoming election and his leadership...

Make every drop count, and count every drop: Vanishing groundwater needs proper monitoring and management
Grahame CampbellApril 22, 2021PP39

Aquifer groundwater is a crucial and valuable resource for Australia, but is poorly managed and...

AP19
Implications of the Retirement Income Review: Public advocacy of private profligacy?
Terrence O’BrienMarch 17, 2021AP19

The recent Retirement Income Review implies policies that would reduce after-tax returns to super saving,...

The Looming Iceberg: Australia’s post-pandemic debt risk
Robert CarlingJanuary 28, 2021PP35

After many years with low public debt, Australia is seeing a much higher debt burden...

Victims of failure – how the COVID-19 policy response let down Australians
Monica WilkieDecember 9, 2020AP18

The government response to COVID-19 has imposed restrictions on Australians unseen in peacetime. As Australians...

A Fiscal Vaccine for COVID-19
Tony MakinJune 10, 2020PP30

The fiscal response to the Covid-19 crisis ensures that the federal and state governments will...

State Finances after the Pandemic
Robert CarlingMay 28, 2020PP29

The strength of Australia’s government finances is an important dimension of economic performance as it...

Handouts won’t cure poverty
Wolfgang KasperOctober 11, 2005The Australian Financial Review

The Australian government has joined the turn-of-millennium drive to eliminate extreme Third World poverty a...

A workable way out of the welfare trap
Lawrence MeadAugust 18, 2004The Australian

IN the past decade, the US reduced its welfare rolls by more than 60 per...

Will higher funding really deliver higher education?
September 3, 2002The Age

A curious feature of the current higher education debate is that very little of it...

Leave off, tax breaks can redress child costs
Barry MaleyMay 1, 2002The Australian

Three fundamental issues underlie the maternity leave debate. First is the form and level of...

Give choice a chance: Market phobia sees universities clinging to the stable penury of government funding
March 13, 2002The Australian

Five years ago, like today, there were signs that commonwealth higher education policy might be...

A tax credit system should be the basis for funding education
Jennifer Buckingham OAMOctober 20, 2001The Australian Financial Review

There is not much for parents or schools to get excited about in the education...

No Videos Available
Submission to the Independent Review of the Australian Public Service
Simon Cowan, Eugenie JosephAugust 1, 2018
Submission to the National Commission of Audit
Alexander Philipatos, Jennifer Buckingham OAM, Jeremy Sammut, Robert Carling, Simon Cowan, Stephen Kirchner, Trisha JhaApril 1, 2014T30.08

The federal government’s Commission of Audit (CoA) was established in 2013 to review the performance...

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012
Andrew BakerJanuary 25, 2013

Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee into the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill...

Submission to the COAG Select Council on Disability Reform on NDIS ‘eligibility and reasonable and necessary support’ criteria
Andrew BakerSeptember 10, 2012

Submission to the COAG Select Council on Disability Reform on NDIS ‘eligibility and reasonable and...

Submission to Native Title Leading Practice Agreements Discussion Paper 2010
Helen Hughes, Mark Hughes, Sara HudsonNovember 30, 2010

The Native Title process is only one of the processes returning land to traditional owners....

No Podcasts Available

• Subscribe

Subscribe now and stay in the loop with our giving appeals, event alerts, newsletters and research updates.

We are always pleased to hear from you. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact us here:

+61 2 9438 4377
CIS Office
cis@cis.org.au
CIS Media
kpincott@cis.org.au