Major Reports
The Cities We Need - A Grattan Report
28 June 2010 | Jane-Frances Kelly | Cities
This is the first report from our Cities Program, and aims to set an agenda for thinking about the future of Australia's cities. The report asks how our cities meet the individual needs of their residents, both material and psychological, and identifies emerging challenges to meeting these needs.
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What Teachers Want: Better Teacher Management
24 May 2010 | Ben Jensen | School Education
Improving the quality of teachers and teaching should be a central goal of education policy. Evaluating the work of teachers and developing their teaching skills is a key part of improving the quality of teaching. However, an OECD survey reveals that teacher evaluation and development in Australia is poor and amongst the worst in the developed world.
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Restructuring the Australian Economy to Emit Less Carbon
22 April 2010 | John Daley and Tristan Edis | Energy
Industry by industry analysis shows that an Australian carbon price will not result in widespread job losses or higher carbon emissions. Proposed free permits under the CPRS are expensive and will delay restructuring the Australian economy efficiently to emit less carbon.
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Measuring What Matters: Student Progress
27 January 2010 | Ben Jensen | School Education
In Australia, a large percentage of students only reach minimum standards of literacy and numeracy. These students are spread throughout Australia's school education systems; there are few schools that do not have poor performing students who would benefit from improved education. Despite decades of increasing expenditure, student performance has stagnated. We have a moral imperative to improve the performance of the 30% of year 9 students who have progressed to only the very basic elements of writing literacy.
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Other Publications |
A Blueprint For The Next Government
20 August 2010 | John Daley | Australian Perspective
Election campaigns are rarely about the tough decisions that will make a real difference to Australia's future. For the Commonwealth Government elected on 21 August, whoever that might be, taking principled but tough decisions that respond to the emerging challenges and endemic difficult problems will define the character of the government and their contribution to Australia's history. In an article published online in the National Times, John Daley reflects on what this might look like.
Teacher quality key to better student performance and productivity
17 August 2010 | John Daley and Ben Jensen | School Education
Better education is the most important single area to get right in public policy. Investing in the quality of teaching will provide greater returns to individuals and the economy than any initiative on the reform agenda today. It also has vital non-economic benefits such as contributing to wellbeing, health, social mobility and reduced crime rates. John Daley and Ben Jensen outline why Australia needs to develop an ambitious evidence-based education reform agenda.
Putting a Price on Carbon
13 August 2010 | Tristan Edis | Energy
Unfortunately, Australian energy efficiency policy to date has been a series of grab-bag ideas, which have not been integrated into a considered and comprehensive strategy. In a three part article published online by the Climate Spectator, Tristan Edis explains why cold, hard statistical evidence suggests carbon pricing should be easy, and why politicians do not seem to believe this, and how we might be able to overcome this impasse.
We Need More Doctors In The House
17 July 2010 | David Penington | Health
In an article published in the Weekend Australia, David Penington discusses the need for health professionals to play a larger role in order to ensure real reform in Australian hospitals.
More Bark Than Bite
22 July 2010 | John Daley and Tristan Edis | Energy
Research suggests that Australia can afford to place a price on carbon, even without a comprehensive global treaty. In a PointCarbon article, John Daley and Tristan Edis look at how a price on carbon could impact Australia.
No Action on Emissions is a Costly Option
15 July 2010 | John Daley and Tristan Edis | Energy
The climate change debate is inevitably influenced by the desire to minimise short-term political pain. Clearly, reducing carbon emissions is not going to be painless. However, doing nothing is also going to be painful. And measures that minimise the short-term political pain are liable to substantially increase the long-term economic cost.
A Liveable City
17 June 2010 | Jane-Frances Kelly and Helen Morrow | Cities
Melbourne often 'Tops the Pops' in the Most Liveable Cities of the World charts - but what don't those league tables look at? Jane-Frances Kelly and Helen Morrow explore the question of 'liveability' in an article published recently by the Victorian Council of Social Services.
Submission to Senate Standing Committee
28 May 2010 | David Penington | Health
Professor David Penington made a submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration for the inquiry into the COAG reforms relating to health and hospitals.
Australia's Health System is Ailing
25 May 2010 | David Penington | Health
In every Western country, health costs are rising well ahead of the consumer price index. The recent COAG health reforms are insufficient to address Australia's ailing health system, writes David Penington.
Our Water Ways for UK
11 May 2010 | Bruce Cohen and Martin Cave | Australian Perspective
Together with population growth, environmental change is imposing new challenges on the water sector. The impact is already clear in Australia, and as physical conditions change in the UK, Britain looks to Victoria's water management for lessons.
The Australia of Tomorrow
10 May 2010 | John Daley | Australian Perspective
John Daley, CEO Grattan Institute, discussed 'The Australia of Tomorrow' when he delivered a keynote address at the Roads Australia Summit held in Sydney 22 - 23 April 2010.
An Analysis of Victoria's Labour Productivity Performance
15 April 2010 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Saul Eslake addressed a seminar for Victorian public servants from the Department of Innovation, Industry and Regional Development, Treasury, Premier and Cabinet, and Planning and Community Development where he discussed An analysis of Victoria's labour productivity performance.
NAPLAN Tests Help Champion Equality in the Classroom
15 April 2010 | Ben Jensen | School Education
The Australian Education Union needs to rethink its opposition to NAPLAN, the national testing program being introduced by the federal government.The union has confused the value of the tests with the problems that need to be addressed on the 'MySchool' web site.
Ailing Health System Needs Rudd's Reforms
31 March 2010 | David Penington | Health
There is much to be done in health reform, but the Prime Minister has taken the important first steps, and the states should be collaborating rather than holding back, writes David Penington.
Education Investment Better for Tasmanian Living Standards and Productivity
11 March 2010 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
A sustained focus on year 12 retention rates and school performance is needed to lift Tasmanian living standards. Although Tasmanian's outcomes have improved over the last 10 years, Tasmania has significantly lagged the mainland for decades on living standards, life expectancy, long-term unemployment, and disadvantaged children. A fundamental cause is that Tasmanian productivity is significantly behind the mainland in most industries. Productivity could be substantially higher if Tasmania lifted year twelve retention rates and school performance to mainland levels, along with curriculum reform.
Prime Minister Rudd's plan for reforming Australian public hospitals
10 March 2010 | David Penington | Health
Kevin Rudd's election commitment in November 2007 to take over the funding of public hospitals and fix them has led to a bold and courageous plan, unveiled after a 15 month review by the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) and further extensive consultations. The real questions are whether the solution offered on 3 March 2010 for public hospitals will work, and what problems will it solve? Further debate is urgently needed.
2% Productivity Growth Target is a Worthy Objective
2 February 2010 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Economic growth, in the sense of growth in the income derived from the production of goods and services, comes from four sources: from population growth; from growth in the proportion of the population employed in producing goods and services; from increases in the hours worked by those who are employed in producing goods and services; and from increases in the value of the goods and services produced by those in employment for each hour that they work.
A recommended summer reading list for the Prime Minister
10 December 2009 | Grattan Institute | Australian Perspective
As well as being an important break for many Australians to recharge the batteries, the summer is also an opportunity to catch up with some reading. But our country's leaders have less time than most to browse and select their books for the beach. So Grattan Institute is recommending a list of books which we thought might be useful for the Prime Minister, and the political leaders of all parties at all levels of government, in dealing with some of the challenges facing Australia today. And importantly, they are also a good read.
Productivity and Economic Reform - Address to the Economic Society
4 December 2009 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Productivity is, as Reserve Bank Governor put it earlier this year, "the only real basis for optimism about future income". Or, as Paul Krugman famously put it, before he himself became as well-known as his columns in the New York Times and his Nobel Prize have since made him, productivity 'isn't everything, but in the long run it's nearly everything. Alan Blinder and William Baumol explain why: because 'nothing contributes more to reduction of poverty, to increases in leisure, and to the country's ability to finance education, public health, environment and the arts.
Decision Time for Public Hospitals
30 November 2009 | David Penington | Health
On Monday 7 December Kevin Rudd will present to COAG, what recommendations of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC), or what alternatives should be adopted. COAG will reach final decisions at a further meeting in March 2010. In 2007, he had promised to 'fix' the public hospitals, taking them over if the States had not fixed them in a year.
Minimum Price for Carbon
13 November 2009 | John Daley | Energy
Until future carbon prices are assured, banks and investors will be reluctant to add to power capacity, writes John Daley.
After the Crisis: Social Policy Challenges
5 November 2009 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Australian experience of the global financial crisis has turned out to be remarkably benign, both by comparison with that of most other advanced economies and with what was commonly expected in the early stages of the crisis.
CEO Annual Report to AGM
5 October 2009 | John Daley | Australian Perspective
Grattan Institute aims to make a substantial contribution to Australian public life. In our first part year of operation, we have been consciously building an institution, not just an institute. I wanted to review today very briefly what we have achieved already.
National Plan for Health Clusters
1 October 2009 | David Penington | Health
The Rudd government promised to 'fix up' the public hospitals, but the review of hospitals by NHHRC doesn't solve the tough problems: not enough attention was given to quality of care, safety, and innovation. These things are hard for bureaucrats to measure, but they matter a lot.
Key Challenges for Australian Economic Managers
1 October 2009 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Australian economic policy makers face any number of challenges at the moment and it is not possible to do justice to them in 5-10 minutes.
Aftermath of a Financial Crisis
29 September 2009 | John Daley | Productivity Growth
Aftermath of a financial crisis. Annual finsia and MCFS Banking and Finance Conference.
Why we need to elevate school reform
20 September 2009 | John Daley | School Education
Long-term thinking in education will add billions to Australian gross domestic product, writes John Daley.
The Shann Memorial Lecture
19 August 2009 | Saul Eslake | Productivity Growth
Saul Eslake delivers the Shann Memorial Lecture at the University of Western Australia - Aug 2009.
The 10 numbers Australian governments need to change
10 July 2009 | John Daley | Australian Perspective
John Daley's presentation to the Adeliade Festival of Ideas - July 2009
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