Although one in six Australian children live in poverty, the Australian Government does not officially define or measure poverty. With the increases to income support payments made during the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government has proven it can lift children out of poverty. The authors of this paper argue that permanently increasing these payments would...

Academic publishing houses are among the most profitable businesses in the world. They charge exorbitant fees for access to research that the public funds. This paper looks at several changes that could stop public funds from being funnelled to the oligopoly of academic publishers.

Australia needs a research integrity watchdog, but what would a best-practice regulatory body look like? Using world-leading examples from five nations, this paper makes nine recommendations for the design of an independent research integrity watchdog that would enable Australia to effectively tackle research misconduct.

Australia has no independent body to investigate allegations of misconduct in scientific research, unlike most countries with developed research sectors. Research institutes largely investigate allegations themselves, leading to potential conflicts of interest. The authors of this paper argue that a research watchdog is needed to ensure the integrity of Australian science.

Subsidies for fossil fuels obscure the true cost of these polluting industries and enable them to continue exploring for, extracting and burning coal, oil and gas. As the world works towards reducing global greenhouse emissions to mitigate climate change, international pressure is mounting for countries to stop subsidising fossil fuels so that competitively-priced and clean...