This paper follows the report of the Royal Commission into the Building Industry. The government has accepted the commission's arguments for the establishment of an Australian Building and Construction Commission with extensive powers. However, there is now a good deal of debate on those recommendations that address reforms in the industry as well as the...

Australia's peak indigenous body, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC), has been the focus of a great deal of media, political and public attention in recent months largely as a result of the changes to ATSIC announced by the Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Philip Ruddock, in April, and the broader review of ATSIC...

This paper examines the $30 billion in Commonwealth tax expenditures which provide tax benefits through deductions, rebates, reduced rates and deferred liabilities. While essentially the same as outlays, tax expenditures are not subject to the same scrutiny but provide the cosmetic effect of a slimmer public sector with lower outlays and taxation receipts.

The term 'universalism' is currently undergoing a revival in the Australian policy debate. Politicians and commentators from across the political spectrum are using the term in reference to the recently proposed changes to Medicare. Much of the debate focuses on whether Medicare has ever been universal and whether the proposed changes will affect that universality...

One of the ripples to flow out from the attacks on 11 September 2001 was the requirement for greater security at America's ports. Coming from one of Australia's largest trading partners, the US Container Security Initiative has significant implications for future policy direction, in particular given the Free Trade Agreement currently under consideration between Australia...