Regional visas are a growing part of Australia’s skilled migration system. They are intended to support regional economies and ease pressure on major cities. However this analysis finds many regional visa holders are not in places the public may think of as 'regional'. It concludes that regional policy may not be having its desired effect.

Australia’s self-employment rate has fallen sharply since the early 2000s. This report shows a fall in unincorporated self-employment aligns closely with changing labour market incentives. Unincorporated businesses that employ workers experienced the greatest decline, while solo self-employment fell modestly and the share of company owners grew. The patterns are interpreted as reflecting two broad trends.

There are various proposals regarding how to reform capital gains taxation in Australia. Using data on realised capital gains in 2022 for a subset of housing investors (those holding for between one and nine years) this paper describes how four different tax systems, including the current system, would have treated individuals differently.

This paper explores the idea of halving the JobSeeker payment but doubling its frequency from a fortnightly to weekly payment. The paper documents JobSeeker recipient spending patterns and finds they face more financial stress, experience greater spending volatility and withdraw higher rates of cash than New Zealand recipients who receive weekly payments.

Australians hold some of the highest levels of mortgage debt in the world. This paper examines what is widely considered to be one of the strongest channels of monetary policy transmission into household spending – the effect of changes in mortgage payments when mortgage rates are linked to the short-term policy rate.