The return mandates for Australia’s specialist investment vehicles currently push them towards safe bets and guaranteed commercial returns. A key barrier to reform has been a concern that lowering the return mandate and raising the risk appetite could leave the government fiscally worse off. This report demonstrates that reform could improve measures of Australia’s fiscal...

The report outlines how governments can lock in benefits for the communities hosting Australia's new industries and energy infrastructure. It outlines a framework for allocating public funding that incentivises and supports developers to deliver better community engagement, and ensures new net zero industries strengthen local and First Nations communities and workforces.

Natural disasters like bushfires, floods and cyclones aren’t rare or unpredictable. They’re inevitable and should be planned and budgeted for accordingly. But currently, the federal budget only includes disaster recovery spending for events that have already happened. This paper argues that estimated future disaster costs should be included in existing budget lines.

This report provides governments with a practical manual for how to achieve better outcomes for the people they serve. It identifies six principles for an effective approach to transformational government change and makes 13 recommendations for practical actions that governments can take to ensure systems are set up to put wellbeing at the heart of...

This report finds government funding is generally skewed towards the later stages of industry development which are already comparatively well-financed by private capital markets. It suggests shifting more funding towards the early stages of industry development, including high-risk high-reward projects that might otherwise struggle to gain private finance, and could one day become major players...