1,721,073 research outputs found
Regional development in Western Australia
No full textThe Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA)’s State of the Regions series (the ‘series’) provided a platform for robust discussion on economic diversification and growth opportunities within Western Australia’s regional economies.
Delivered over a two-year period, concluding in March 2016, the series involved nine regional events, with CEDA inviting business, industry, government, community and academic leaders to provide their views and promote discussion on the opportunities and challenges facing regional Western Australia. It has enabled the Regions to showcase their visions and plans (through the launch of Development Commission Regional Investment Blueprints at a number of the events), and collaborate and learn from one another. It has helped to bridge the gap between Perth and the Regions.
The series brings into focus the unique attributes in each of Western Australia’s nine discrete regional areas and has demonstrated the passion and enthusiasm inherent in regional Western Australians.
Through the series, five actions, detailed on page eight, 32 and 33 have been identifed that, in aggregate will help activate the economic potential of regional Western Australia and ensure a sustainable future for regional communities
Australia’s energy options: renewables and efficiency
Full text linkThe world is wrestling with the challenge of ensuring an ongoing supply of energy that does not damage the environment while enabling billions of people to appreciate the benefits of modern life. Global interest in renewable technologies is accelerating the maturity of many of these energy sources. These efforts are vital if the quality of human life is to be improved across the planet without causing its further degradation. Energy underpins all aspects of modern life and generates many externalities that affect both the environment and society more broadly, such as the environmental consequences of extracting the raw materials used in all energy generation. All forms of energy generation create externalities, although not all have an influence on the climate.
Numerous policies have been established to adjust for climatic externalities in the energy generation and to incentivise low carbon emission sources of energy. There is a complex interplay between technological and economic factors influencing the deployment of renewable technologies, the relative cost of generating energy from different sources, and the broader political and economic cycles. Given how fundamental reliable energy is for modern life the costs involved in mitigating climate change are substantial. The scale of change requires examining public policy outcomes throughout the world to ensure that interventions are producing effective results in Australia.
Related identifier: ISBN 0 85801 280
Addressing entrenched disadvantage in Australia
Full text linkAn estimated four to six per cent of Australia\u27s population experiences chronic or persistent poverty or deprivation.
Executive Summary
Entrenched disadvantage is a wicked problem for any society. Disadvantage of one form or another will always be with us, but when disadvantage is entrenched, some Australians are not able to play their full part in our economy and society.
An estimated four to six per cent of our society experiences chronic or persistent poverty or deprivation. This represents both a tragedy for the individuals concerned and a loss of economic potential for the nation.
While we have policies in place or in development to address disadvantage, it is not clear that we have recognised the need to address the deeper problem of long-term, persistent and chronic disadvantage. As a rich and successful society, we can clearly do better – others do.
Two aspects of entrenched disadvantage are clear:
The problem is both significant and complex; and
Current policies to remove entrenchment are not working.
The people who find it hardest to escape from disadvantage appear to fall into six main categories:
1. Older people;
2. Less-educated people;
3. Households with no employed members;
4. Particular geographic areas;
5. Indigenous Australians; and
6. Those with chronic health problems.
Current policies are mainly designed to get people into, or back into, the labour market. While this is an appropriate objective, there are people in our society who need targeted and/or additional help to prepare themselves for ongoing employment. It is difficult to get or hold a job if you do not have anywhere to sleep or have ongoing health problems. It is hardly surprising then that disadvantage is cumulative: The longer a person spends with significant disadvantage, the more likely he or she is to be stuck there. Children who grow up in a home with entrenched disadvantage are also more likely to face the same problem.
Related identifier: ISBN 0 85801 299
Healthcare: reform or ration
Full text linkHealthcare: Reform or ration considers:
The contribution of the biotechnology sector to the Australian economy, export challenges and opportunities and policies that would support sector innovation and advance Australia\u27s comparative advantage;
How education in STEM skills underpins an innovative economy and policies that would improve the quality and quantity of students undertaking STEM subjects; and
The fiscal challenges confronting Australia\u27s tax-based healthcare system, and the reforms necessary to sustain universal access.
Authors
Professor Just Stoelwinder
Professor and Chair of Health Services Management, Monash University
Professor Philip Clarke
Professor of Health Economics, Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne
Professor Ian Chubb AC
Australia\u27s Chief Scientist
Dr Julian Clark
Head of Business Development, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Dr Anna Lavelle
Chief Executive Officer AusBiotech
Dr Vince FitzGerald,
Senior Research Fellow, CEDA
Professor Ian Chubb AC
Australia\u27s Chief Scientist
Dr Julian Clark
Head of Business Development, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Professor Philip Clarke
Professor of Health Economics, Centre for Health Policy, Programs and Economics, Melbourne School of Population Health, University of Melbourne
Dr Vince FitzGerald,
Senior Research Fellow, CEDA
Dr Anna Lavelle
Chief Executive Officer AusBiotech
Professor Just Stoelwinder
Professor and Chair of Health Services Management, Monash University
Related identifier: ISBN 0 85801 286
Global networks: transforming how Australia does business
No full textIn this policy perspective, CEDA examines:
Australia’s role in the Asia-Pacific region and the broader world;
The benefits of well-structured bilateral trade agreements and how to realise them;
How Australia can encourage the free movement of ideas and people; and
How technology can shorten tyranny of distance and reduce market entry barriers.
This release coincides with the recent introduction of legislation needed to implement the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement (ChAFTA) and the conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations
A federation for the 21st century
Full text linkA Federation for the 21st Century examines:
The key challenges for a federation in the 21st century
The potential for reforming the way government organises and delivers services
The relationship between the Commonwealth and state governments in relation to funding, investment and infrastructure
Local versus national requirements for services and regulation
Engaging with state and Commonwealth policy makers to increase Australia\u27s long-term economic and social prosperity
Chapters and authors:
Section 1: Context
Chapter 1.1
The historical context of Australia\u27s Federation
Professor John Cole
Chapter 1.2
Economic perspectives on federalism
Professor Bhajan Grewal
Chapter 1.3
Federalism and diversity in Australia
Professor Nicholas Aroney
Section 2: Critical interdependencies
Chapter 2.1
The culture of Commonwealth and state relations
Jennifer Menzies
Chapter 2.2
The legality of federal government expenditure
Professor Anne Twomey
Chapter 2.3
Regulatory setting within the Australian Federation
Dr Tina Hunter
Chapter 2.4
Performance comparison in Australian federalism
Alan Fenna
Section 3: Determining roles, responsibilities and functions
Chapter 3.1
Criteria for assigning roles and responsibilities in the Federation
Professor Kenneth Wiltshire
Chapter 3.2
Virtual local government
Professor Percy Allan AM
Chapter 3.3
The need for strong metropolitan governance within the Federation
Lucy Hughes Turnbull AO
Chapter 3.4
Providing public infrastructure in Australia
Bree O\u27Connell and Brad Vann
Chapter 3.5
Roles and responsibilities in the Federation
Tanya Smith
Section 4: A reform agenda
Chapter 4.1
Reforming the Federation
The Hon. John Brumby
Chapter 4.2
Governments, subsidiarity and saving the Federation
Terry Moran AC
Chapter 4.3
Case study of reform in the Federation: Vocational Education and Training
Dr Vince FitzGerald and Professor Peter Noonan
Chapter 4.4
Entrenched disadvantage: Helping remote indigenous communities
The Hon. Fred Chaney AO and Professor Ian Marsh
Related identifier: ISBN: 0 85801 296
Growth 60: Australia's broadband future: four doors to greater competition
No full textIn recent years, Australians have begun to realise the contribution that telecommunications and competitive media can make to the development of a prosperous and socially viable nation. With that realisation, broadband has moved to the centre of the policy agenda. This report focuses on the current Australian broadband debate. How do we deliver the best information services to customers in different situations across the country?
Contents and contributors:
The ‘Four Digital Doors’ – a CEDA Research perspective on digital competition - Michael Porter, Director, CEDA Research
Building the broadband network - Martin Cave, Professor and Director of the Centre for Management under Regulation, Warwick Business School
Creating an efficient national broadband network - Joshua Gans, Professor of Economics, Melbourne Business School
A policy framework for a new broadband network - Henry Ergas and Eric Ralph, Concept Economics
Broadband in the US – myths and facts - Jeffrey Eisenach, Chairman, Empiris LLC
The European experience – regulating broadband services - Jim Holmes, Director, Incyte Consulting
Related identifier: ISBN 0 85801 271 5 | ISSN 0085 128
VET: securing skills for growth
Full text linkEducation is at the core of a thriving economy and while Australia has historically had a comparative advantage in its highly-educated workforce, this is being eroded. At the same time, the challenges posed by emerging technologies that threaten to make current skills obsolete pose a further threat to our workforce capabilities.
In developing an education strategy that meets the dual challenge of adapting to digital disruption and ensuring our workforce remains internationally competitive, it is important to look at all aspects of the education system, including Vocational Education and Training (VET).
VET is a crucial component of Australia’s education system and will undoubtedly play an important role in securing Australia’s future skills needs. Traditionally, the VET sector has been the domain of the public provider through the establishment of the Technical and Further Education (TAFE) system. Recent reforms have introduced competition to the sector, with a view to improve accessibility, transparency, quality and efficiency.
In the report, VET: securing skills for growth, CEDA will seek to examine the following questions:
What is the role of VET within the broader education strategy of Australia?
What role does VET play in securing Australia\u27s future skills?
What outcomes do we want from the VET system?
In examining those questions, CEDA seeks to assess the current outcomes of the sector and propose ways the VET system could be improved in order to meet the skills Australia will require for growth
Setting public policy
Full text linkAustralia’s two-decade economic expansion has not been simply a function of chance or benefiting from the nation’s rich natural endowments. This historic growth period has occurred despite the Asian Financial Crisis; the Russian and Long Term Capital Management (LTCM) crises; the 2001 bursting of the technology bubble; the quintupling of oil prices; the global financial crisis and subsequent deep recession in advanced economies; and the ongoing European sovereign debt crisis. Success has been enabled by public policy settings that have encouraged flexibility, efficient resource allocation and innovation in the economy.
There is widespread belief among CEDA members that Australia’s recent policy making has not been at a best practice standard. Some reasons that have been given for the presumed decline in quality of public policy debate and execution are:
A heightened emphasis within governments on opinion polls and responding to perceived popular opinion;
Changes in the media landscape and its influence on public information; and
Issues in the relationship between the public service and politicians.
While these issues have not stopped important policy development, such as the Henry Tax Review or the white paper on Australia in the Asian Century, many of the reforms put forward have been considered too difficult or politically unpalatable for government to pursue. The major exception is the National Disability Insurance Scheme, now DisabilityCare Australia. However, despite wide community and bipartisan political support for the initiative, contentious issues associated with its ongoing funding have proven intractable.
It is vital that Australia rediscovers its ability to clearly identify and implement challenging economic reforms.
As the stimulus from the mining boom fades, Australia’s prosperity will become increasingly subject to the pressures of the international marketplace. This will occur in an environment of heightened human and financial capital mobility and fast paced technological advances that can rapidly undermine sources of traditional comparative advantage. Whether recent economic success fades into memory or continues will be substantially determined by the quality of policy implemented by government.
Related identifier: ISBN 0 85801 289
Australia adjusting: optimising national prosperity
Full text linkThe recommendations form the basis of a National Productivity Policy (NPP) to drive a sustained improvement to Australia’s productivity so that the nation can realise ongoing economic growth.
Reform agenda for an open economy
To remain competitive and economically strong, Australia will need to adjust to economic changes taking place now – and in the future – to ensure we have a knowledgeable, productive workforce and strong, innovative industries. CEDA’s research outlines a reform agenda that will address these concerns, and sustain Australia’s international competitiveness and productivity into the future. That reform agenda embraces economic flexibility, incentivising innovation and developing the nation’s human capital.
Economic flexibility
The flexibility of Australia’s economy underpins the nation’s ability to respond to changing domestic and/or international circumstances. To improve its economic flexibility, Australia needs to initiate a series of microeconomic reforms to remove rigidities in the economy, address inefficiencies and uncompetitive elements of the tax system, reform the Federation, and adopt processes to deliver suitable levels of infrastructure.
Incentivising innovation
Along with a competitive environment that in itself provides incentives to become more productive, the capacity to innovate and to adopt innovations quickly is essential to raising productivity. Australia has tended to derive its comparative advantage from other sources in the past, so it will be a challenge for the nation to develop vibrant hubs of innovation. There is also evidence of a lack of management innovation in Australian small and medium enterprises (SMEs), relative to those in northern hemisphere advanced economies.
Capability and workforce development
A nation’s most valuable resource is its people – its human capital – and how well it performs in productivity and raising living standards depends critically on ensuring that their capabilities and agility are developed to their full potential, and that we have adaptive and consultative workplaces. While Australia has had relatively high levels of participation and employment in recent times, there are segments of the community where skill development and participation are poor.
Related identifier: 0 85801 290
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