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Social impact bonds and recidivism: a new solution to an old problem?
No full textRecidivism is not a topic that has traditionally been associated with the world of high finance. Yet, in recent times, recidivism and other intractable social challenges have become the subject of Social Impact Bonds (SIBs); a novel form of investment that makes use of private funds to address pressing public concerns.
In July 2016 the NSW Government entered into its third SIB and Australia’s first recidivism SIB, known as On TRACC (Transition, Reintegration and Community Correction). On TRACC funds intensive support services to parolees, particularly in the first four months after their release, in order to facilitate their successful reintegration into the community.
This paper provides an overview of SIBs. It defines recidivism, and considers the extent and costs of recidivism in NSW. The effectiveness of overseas SIBs designed to reduce recidivism is examined. The paper concludes by discussing NSW’s nascent experience with SIBs, including its new On TRACC recidivism SIB
Concerns campaign to scrap state-based renewable energy targets will affect investment in SA
No full textThere are concerns that a campaign to scrap state-based renewable energy targets will seriously hinder investment opportunities in South Australia.
Liberal opposition parties in three states have proposed dumping the target and leaving it to the federal government to set renewable energy goals.
But lobby groups say it would drive away business and the potential for jobs growth in the future
Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority: Assessing its effectiveness and efficiency
No full textThis report provides Parliament and the New Zealand public an independent account of how effectively and efficiently the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) has performed.
The report is in five sections:
Introduction
Establishing and managing the Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority
Leading and co-ordinating the recovery
Effectiveness in carrying out projects and programmes
How performance was measured and reported
In my view, both CERA and the Christchurch City Council were not as open or transparent with one another as is required for an effective recovery. This caused delays in some programmes.
I acknowledge the challenges for an agency like CERA in communicating with a community that is recovering from a disaster, but CERA could have been more effective and efficient in its communication and engagement with the community. Senior staff devoted considerable time and effort to communicating with the community, and CERA spent a large amount of money in this area.
However, surveys of the community show that the public\u27s trust and confidence in information from CERA declined over time, and many in the community were not satisfied that they had enough opportunities to influence decision-making about the recovery. CERA increased its expenditure on communications, but it did not adapt or change its approach well enough.
CERA was a relatively expensive department to run when compared with other similar-sized public entities. The level of expenditure on administration and support services was large for a small entity, but not unreasonable considering the important, urgent, and complex nature of what CERA was asked to do.
In doing this performance audit, and our annual audits of CERA since it was established, we have identified some important lessons and actions that I consider should be used to prepare for the next time New Zealand needs a recovery agency.
Forming a view on the effectiveness of CERA has been difficult. CERA’s external performance measures were focused on what it was going to do, rather than on what it was trying to achieve. This means that it was not able to provide a good account of its effectiveness or demonstrate its value for money. Having a better performance framework is an important lesson for the future.
This report identifies some important lessons and actions that we consider should be used next time New Zealand needs a recovery agency. In light of the November 2016 earthquakes in Kaikōura and the surrounding region, these lessons are particularly pertinent. 
South Australia’s gambling tax highlights the regulatory mess of online betting
No full textThe South Australian government will introduce from July a “point-of-consumption tax” to claw back some of the gambling tax revenue it is seeing disappear over the border.
The new tax is a reasonable response to a growing problem, and probably won’t send bookmakers to the wall. But it does highlight the current regulatory mess surrounding how we tax internet wagering in Australia.
Read the full article on The Conversation
The ACT election 2016: back to the future?
No full textThis resource is a summary of the outcome of the ACT election, held in October 2016.
It was an unusual election in that it saw little movement in party support from the previous election in 2012 and no fringe parties or candidates were elected. The main issues were the construction of a tramline, the implementation of tax reform, the demolition of over one thousand houses to resolve asbestos contamination and allegations of corruption
A comparison of Coalition and Labor government asylum policies in Australia since 2001 - February 2017 update
No full textIntroduction
It has been four decades since the first boats carrying Indochinese asylum seekers arrived on Australia’s shores. Since then public perceptions or concerns over unauthorised maritime arrivals continue to strongly influence government policy and to be an emotive and divisive political issue.
While the numbers have fluctuated over the years, there was a significant rise in unauthorised arrivals between 2008 and 2013. This placed more pressure on both Coalition and Labor governments to adopt and maintain measures that were seen to address border security concerns, combat people smuggling and ‘stop the boats’. In response to these pressures, governments from both major parties have supported increasingly severe deterrence measures in an attempt to reduce the number of unauthorised maritime arrivals (UMAs).
Given that there is bipartisan support for several of the Government’s current deterrence measures (such as offshore processing in the Pacific) it could be argued that the policy differences between the two major parties are minimal. In fact, there has been bi-partisan support for most of the policy responses and deterrence measures developed by successive Labor and Coalition governments since the 1970s, including the introduction of mandatory detention for all boat arrivals by the Keating (Labor) Government in 1991.
The Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers established in 2012 to advise the Australian Government on ‘the best way forward’, acknowledged the complexities of the issues arising from the arrival of asylum seekers by boat, noting that there ‘were no quick or simple solutions’.
The Panel argued for an integrated suite of short-term and long-term proposals that included deterrence measures such as the re-introduction of an offshore processing regime. Long-term non-deterrence proposals included recommendations that the Government create better migration pathways and protection opportunities for refugees coordinated within an ‘enhanced regional cooperation framework’.
However, to date many long-term proposals along the lines of those recommended by the Panel have not been pursued by either of the major parties. It is argued that without long-term effective mechanisms in place, perceptions of ‘good refugees’ and ‘bad refugees’ will continue to be ‘pitted against one another’ in the public debate.
This paper provides a comparison of key Labor and Coalition asylum policies since 2001 when the Howard (Coalition) Government first introduced the practice of offshore processing to deal with previous waves of boat arrivals. It includes an overview of the recommendations made by the Expert Panel on Asylum Seekers in 2012 and analysis by experts in the field regarding the policy alternatives. A summary of the key policy similarities and differences is provided in an appendix
How to find what you need in RoGS
No full textThis guide has been developed to assist with navigating the Report on Government Services web pages published by the Productivity Commission
2017 global NGO online technology report
No full textThe 2017 Global NGO Online Technology Report is a research project that seeks to gain a better understanding of how non-governmental organizations (NGOs) worldwide use online technology to engage their supporters and donors. Sponsored by the Public Interest Registry and researched by Nonprofit Tech for Good, the report summarizes how NGOs worldwide use web and email communications, online and mobile fundraising tools, and social and mobile media.
The report is groundbreaking in that it is the only annual research project dedicated to studying how NGOs use online technology on a global scale. Due to regional discrepancies in the global Internet infrastructure, how effectively NGOs utilize online technology to inspire philanthropy and create social change varies greatly depending upon their location. Each year as more NGOs participate in the research, the report becomes more precise in its findings and useful to the global NGO sector
Americans and cybersecurity
No full textCyberattacks and data breaches are facts of life for government agencies, businesses and individuals alike in today’s digitized and networked world. Just a few of the most high-profile breaches in 2016 alone include the hacking and subsequent release of emails from members of the Democratic National Committee; the release of testing records of dozens of athletes conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency; and the announcement by Yahoo that hackers had accessed the private information associated with roughly 1 billion email accounts.
Finally, in late 2016 and early 2017 U.S. intelligence agencies (the FBI, CIA and Department of Homeland Security) both issued statements and testified before Congress that the Russian government was involved in the hack of the DNC with the aim of influencing the 2016 presidential election.
Previous Pew Research Center studies of the digital privacy environment have found that many Americans fear they have lost control of their personal information and many worry whether government agencies and major corporations can protect the customer data they collect. As part of this ongoing series of studies on the state of online privacy and security, the Center conducted a national survey of 1,040 adults in the spring of 2016 to examine their cybersecurity habits and attitudes.
This survey finds that a majority of Americans have directly experienced some form of data theft or fraud, that a sizeable share of the public thinks that their personal data have become less secure in recent years, and that many lack confidence in various institutions to keep their personal data safe from misuse. In addition, many Americans are failing to follow digital security best practices in their own personal lives, and a substantial majority expects that major cyberattacks will be a fact of life in the future.
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Productivity and geography: presentation to Productivity Commission conference
No full textWhile economic growth has been concentrated in cities for some time, the trend has really accelerated in the past decade. Half of all jobs growth is now within a 2km radius of the city centres in both Melbourne and Sydney, reflecting the increasing share of new jobs in services industries where physical proximity really matters.
Yet our land use planning policies make it hard for people to live near where the new jobs are. Instead, most new homes are still being build on the urban fringes of our largest cities. Reforming planning and housing policies to allow more people to live closer to the centres of our major cities could yield big economic benefits.
The intensifiying shift in the economy towards our cities also has big implications for our regional development policies. Governments have already spent a lot of money building infrastructure in regional areas this past decade, but have little to show for it.
And the growing economic and social divides between cities and regions is already being reflected in our politics, with a growing share of regional voters opting for minor parties in recent Federal elections.
[Follow the link to view background information for this presentation at the Grattan Institute website