This is the sixteenth edition of the Report, produced by a Steering Committee of senior officials from Australian, State and Territory governments for the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The Steering Committee is chaired by Gary Banks, Chairman of the Productivity Commission.

The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) has developed a wide-ranging agenda of national reforms. The Productivity Commission has been given the role of reporting to COAG periodically on the economic 'impacts and benefits' of the reforms. In preparation for its first report, the Commission has been requested to provide this framework report outlining its proposed...

Key points 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 practical value; and facilitating greater and faster uptake of research...

In January 2011, the Rural Research and Development Council ('the Council') released a draft National Strategic Rural Research and Development Investment Plan ('the draft plan'). The Council invited public comment on this draft plan, including from the Productivity Commission, before preparing a final version for the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

Examines the Vocational Education and Training sector, the context in which it operates and the implications this has for workforce composition and development. The Productivity Commission has been asked by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), through the Australian Government, to undertake a study of the workforces in the Vocational Education and Training (VET), Early...