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The 2013 Defence White Paper places greater emphasis than its predecessors on defence engagement, and begins to link regional security to the defence of Australia itself. It does not explain, however, what Australia has to do to achieve its objectives, or what commitments it would have to enter to do so. Overall, the White Paper moves towards a reinterpretation of 'self-reliance' that focuses more on the way in which Australia would operate in a coalition conflict, but developing a new defence strategy that links force structure, posture and employment to the achievement of Australia's strategic objectives is left to future White Papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2013 White Paper reaffirms the centrality of the US Alliance for Australia. It identifies a number of concrete areas for future cooperation and provides the foundation for developing greater strategic ties with China while remaining firmly anchored in the US camp. It is less clear, however, when it comes to Australia's future contribution to burden-sharing within the Alliance. Putting actions behind the goal to play a greater role in Southeast Asia will be an important litmus test for the alliance relationship. In many ways, the White Paper reflects a phase of re-orientation in the Alliance: away from operations further afield towards the increasing security dynamics in Australia's own region. As the future of China's trajectory-and US-Sino strategic relations—is still very much uncertain, the 'hedging' approach taken White Paper's approach makes sense. What happens if US-Sino strategic relations become more competitive is left to another day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the wholesale destruction of priceless and irreplaceable historical records in Australia during World War II. Impact of Australia's involvement in the war on the policy on waste materials; Features of the plan for the salvage of waste materials; Results of salvage collection in the country; Four types of salvage activities; Historical records destroyed during the campaign.

The analysis in the 2013 White Paper of international defence engagement highlights the important co-operative activities that Australian Defence Force personnel and Defence officials conduct in, and with, other countries. These activities can create vital synergies for Australia, but their benefits should be neither assumed nor overstated. In particular, they need to be assessed in the broader context of the White Paper's narrative, which is focused primarily on a rationalisation of the gap between the ends and means of defence policy. In that context, the role of Australia's international defence engagement risks being portrayed disproportionately. In the most critical dimension of such engagement, the alliance relationship with the United States, Australia's capacity for burden-sharing and value-adding is diminishing, not expanding. In other forms of international defence engagement, the White Paper's emphases seem designed to compensate for budgetary shortfalls and other deficiencies elsewhere in the policy narrative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Australia has been widely condemned for its harsh and comprehensive external border controls that seek to control the inward mobility of would-be asylum seekers through visa denial, interdiction and offshore detention. Less widely discussed is the fact that internal controls have been repeatedly ramped up over the past two decades. This includes the administrative removal of lawfully-present non-citizens following visa cancellation on character grounds under s501 of the Migration Act 1958 (Cth). Automatic visa cancellation was introduced in 2014 for non-citizens sentenced to a prison term of 12  months or more, or for certain offences, bypassing individualised decision-making and raising the spectre of a visa cancellation pipeline feeding a highly automated deportation machinery. In an age of increasingly automated forms of governance, a key question that arises is the role that has been played by automated systems in achieving what has been a seismic shift in practice, and the normative implications of any developments towards automation within the visa cancellation and removal systems. This paper outlines the shift towards automation in other systems of governance in Australia—most notably the notorious Robodebt scheme—before examining automation in Australia’s visa cancellation system. Documentary analysis of recent parliamentary inquiries, independent reports and government policy is used to piece together the development of inter-agency data exchange practices and automation over three specific periods—historical practice pre-2014, post-2014 to the present, and proposed future developments. We conclude that Australia’s s501 visa cancellation system is neither automated nor automatic. Rather, the 2014 law reform gave rise to a ‘surveillance fantasy’ with immense consequences for non-citizens, particularly those who face long days in immigration detention at the conclusion of their prison sentence. We show that while concerns about increasing automation are well-founded, systems based on less sophisticated forms of information handling and reliant on human decision-making nevertheless continue to raise age-old questions concerning efficiency, accuracy and fairness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilient healthcare (RHC) emphasises the importance of adaptive capacity to respond to unanticipated crises such as the global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic but there are few examples of RHC research focusing on the decisions taken by macro level policy makers. The Smaggus et al paper analyses the actions of two governments in Canada and Australia as described in media releases from a resilience perspective. The paper clearly articulates the need for conceptual clarity when analysing system resilience, and integrates three theoretical perspectives to understand the types of government responses and how they were related to resilience. The paper makes a valuable contribution to the developing RHC evidence base, but challenges remain in identifying conceptual frameworks, researching macro level resilience, including identifying and accessing reliable macro level data sources, analysing interactions between macro, meso and micro system levels, and understanding how resilience manifests at different temporal and spatial scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2015, religious freedom has become a heated and divisive political and public policy issue in Australia. While rarely defined or interrogated, 'religious freedom' does not exist as a value-neutral principle with a single meaning. Rather, its discursive constructions are varied and serve to promote certain interests at the expense of others. Offering a new perspective on the politics of religious freedom, this paper draws together four separate studies of the public discourse of religious freedom in Australia (spanning 35 years from 1984 to 2019) to chart how its framing has changed over time and to explore the implications of these changes. This analysis reveals three major discourses of religious freedom emerging over three phases: 'religious diversity'; 'balancing rights'; and 'freedom of belief'. This paper demonstrates how, once used to promote a progressive social agenda, religious freedom has become weaponised by the Christian Right and culture warriors in their battle to entrench in law the ongoing acceptability of discrimination against LGBTIQ+ people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the relationship between policy compliance, the emergence of alternate epistemes and authorities in online spaces, and the decline of trust and legitimacy in democratic institutions. Drawing on insights from public policy, regulation theory, and political theory, the paper critically engages with scholarship on "policy-takers" to illuminate the tensions of compliance and legitimacy in liberal states. It proposes a compliance--legitimacy matrix that identifies the features of policy compliance--including consent, legitimacy, expertise, and trust--and their relationship to the disaggregation of policy knowledge. The article applies this framework to a case study of social media posts that respond to policy information during the management of the Covid-19 pandemic in Australia. Through analysis of these posts, the study reveals the distrust in "the science" and experts advocated by government and the calls from skeptic groups for noncompliance with public health measures. The paper argues that public policy faces an epistemic crisis of public confidence, with significant downstream consequences for compliance with public policy initiatives that has been brought on both by the failures of states to cultivate trust in science and the government. The compliance--legitimacy matrix offers a useful tool for policymakers to anticipate and address objections from policy-takers and to preempt and diffuse their fears. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: A series of Community Pharmacy Agreements (Agreements) between the Federal government and a pharmacy-owners' body, the Pharmacy Guild of Australia (PGA) have been influential policy in Australian community pharmacy (CP) since 1990. While ostensibly to support the public's access and use of medicines, the core elements of the Agreements have been remuneration for dispensing and rules that limit the establishment of new pharmacies. Criticism has focused on the self-interest of pharmacy owners, the exclusion of other pharmacy stakeholders from the Agreement negotiations, the lack of transparency, and the impact on competition. The objective of this paper is to determine the true nature of the policy by examining the evolution of the CPA from a policy theory perspective. Methods: A qualitative evaluation of all seven Agreement documents and their impact was undertaken using policy theories including a linear policy development model, Multiple Streams Framework, Incremental Theory, the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Theory of Economic Regulation, the Punctuated Equilibrium Framework, and Elite Theory. The Agreements were evaluated using four lenses: their objectives, evidentiary base, stakeholders and beneficiaries. Results: The PGA has acted as an elite organisation with long-standing influence on the policy's development and implementation. Notable has been the failure of other pharmacy stakeholders to establish broad-based advocacy coalitions in order to influence the Agreements. The incremental changes negotiated every 5 years to the core elements of the Agreements have supported the publics' access to medication, provided stability for the government, and security for existing pharmacy owners. Their impact on the evolution of pharmacists' scope of practice and through that, on the public's safe and appropriate use of medication, has been less clear. Conclusions: The Agreements can be characterised predominantly as industry policy benefiting pharmacy owners, rather than health policy. An emerging issue is whether incremental change will continue to be an adequate policy response to the social, political, and technological changes that are affecting health care, or whether policy disruption is likely to arise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Economic Society of Australia has made the decision to stop producing hard copies of its journals in an effort to reduce paper and plastic usage and cut costs. Starting in January 2024, all financial members of the society will have free access to the journals through the society's website. The article also mentions that the 52nd Australian Conference of Economists will be held in July 2024 at the University of Adelaide, with Professor Leonardo Bursztyn as one of the keynote speakers. Additionally, the text pays tribute to the late Professor Max Corden, a highly respected economist known for his contributions to international economics and Australian economic policy. The first part of the text provides an overview of Max Corden's career and his impact on Australian public policy. The second part is an obituary for Brian Parmenter, a colleague of the author, highlighting his personality and contributions to economic modeling. The author also shares personal experiences working with Brian and describes his coaching and mentoring abilities. The text concludes with a summary of Brian's employment history. [Extracted from the article]

In recent months in Australia there has been extended debate about whether the age pension, particularly with regard to single pensioners, is sufficiently high to allow older Australians to attain an acceptable standard of living. This is an important policy consideration given Australia’s rapidly ageing population. By using microdata and microsimulation models, this paper examines the national and spatial impacts on the distribution of poverty among older single people of an increase in the single age-pension rate. This paper shows that the cost of increasing the single age-pension to 66 per cent of the couple-age pension rate would be about $A1.3 billion and would benefit about 824,000 single age-pensioners. Further, it is estimated that such an increase would reduce poverty rates for lone older persons from 46.5 per cent to 36.5 per cent, a 10-percentage point reduction. Looking at the spatial distribution of such benefits, the effect of the policy change seems to be generally stronger in capital cities, and in bands of rural areas in New South Wales and Victoria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite growing evidence on the social determinants of health and health equity, political action has not been commensurate. Little is known about how political will operates to enact pro-equity policies or not. This paper examines how political will for pro-health equity policies is created through analysis of public policy in multiple sectors. Methods: Eight case studies were undertaken of Australian policies where action was either taken or proposed on health equity or where the policy seemed contrary to such action. Telephone or face-to-face interviews were conducted with 192 state and non-state participants. Analysis of the cases was done through thematic analysis and triangulated with document analysis. Results: Our case studies covered: trade agreements, primary healthcare (PHC), work conditions, digital access, urban planning, social welfare and Indigenous health. The extent of political will for pro-equity policies depended on the strength of path dependency, electoral concerns, political philosophy, the strength of economic and biomedical framings, whether elite interests were threatened and the success or otherwise of civil society lobbying. Conclusion: Public health policy actors may create political will through: determining how path dependency that exacerbates health inequities can be broken, working with sympathetic political forces committed to fairness; framing policy options in a way that makes them more likely to be adopted, outlining factors to consider in challenging the interests of elites, and considering the extent to which civil society will work in favour of equitable policies. A shift in norms is required to stress equity and the right to health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As a country largely free of the corruption that bedevils the defence procurement of many of Australia's Asian neighbours, it is generally assumed that Australia's national security interests, together with value for money, are the paramount criteria for Australia's defence procurement. This is an assumption, however, that deserves critical interrogation, particularly with respect to the influence that domestic politics can have on strategic decisions. This article investigates the Australian government's 2016 decision to acquire land‐based anti‐ship missiles. To do so, it adapts Putnam's two‐level game to a defence policy context, enabling the incorporation of both realist and domestic political factors, including the influence of interest groups. I find a plausible case that the influence of the resources sector and constituents of Australia's northwest, as well as the corporate interests of the Australian army in asserting a greater role in Australian defence strategy, may have been significant in the decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we argue for a systems perspective as the theoretical and analytical basis of national innovation ecosystems. Drawing on the system concepts of holism, emergence and open systems features, we analyse the national innovation ecosystems of Australia and Singapore. The analysis of national innovation ecosystems is based on five dimensions of policies: human capital investment and the availability of professional labour, infrastructure, private–public sector collaboration, support for funding and commercialization and innovation corporate culture. We find both countries' national innovation ecosystems to have aspects of holism, emergence and being open systems; however, the extent of these features varies between the two countries in terms of the five dimensions of national innovation policies that we focus on. The paper provides implications for theory and practice particularly for policymakers to consider systems perspective in order to properly design and also gain benefits from national innovation ecosystems. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is generally accepted among Australian economists that high rates of growth of wages at various times over the last decade have made the achievement of full employment and lower rates of inflation more difficult. Fear of a further acceleration of wage growth has also been a policy constraint. It is when one attempts to go further that considerable disagreement becomes evident. From a labor market viewpoint, there does not seem to be a consensus as to the answers to the two broad questions that should be addressed. First, how important are wage changes relative to other factors that depress employment and add to the inflation rate? Second, how does government policy impinge on the process that generates wage changes? To do justice to both of these in a paper as short as this one is difficult, so I shall focus most of the paper on the second question.
The relationships between government policy and wage changes are particularly important at this time. For most of the last decade, successive governments have operated a national wages policy, which to a large degree has been based on the indexation of wages for past price changes. The latest experiment, the Prices and Incomes Accord, is the centerpiece of the current government's employment and inflation policy, and, after almost two years of wide community and media support, the key principles upon which it is based are suddenly being questioned.[1]
Our prime endeavor, therefore, will be to build up sufficient understanding of the wage determination process so that some evaluation can be made as to the effectiveness of these national wage policies. This turns out to be a remarkably difficult task which generates considerable concern in our mind that the data may not be sufficiently rich to serve as a basis for sound judgments. It does appear, however, that the effect of a given level of unemployment upon wage changes has consistently weakened over the last decade. Why this should be so is a major... [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on infrastructure spending and unemployment in Australia. The Australian government's policy package had several components. The first was a recognition that high economic growth was required if significant inroads into unemployment were to be achieved. Given the government's beliefs about the likely outcomes for labour productivity and the labour force participation rate, it was thought that a real growth rate of 4.8 per cent would be required to achieve the target unemployment rate of 5 per cent by 2001. The Green Paper and the subsequent White Paper were pretty vague as to exactly how such a long stretch of high economic growth was to be achieved, placing a lot of faith on microeconomic reform and improving the quality of labour through training reform. However, it was also recognised that high growth by itself was not sufficient, and that a policy of active labour market programs directed at the long-term unemployed and those at high risk' of becoming long-term unemployed would be necessary to reduce long-term unemployment. The Job Compact was an extensive raft of active labour market programs which included an expanded wage subsidy scheme, training programs and case management of the chronically unemployed and which placed an obligation on targeted individuals to participate in the scheme to retain unemployment benefits.

INTRODUCTION Secondary schools are a setting in which e-cigarette use among students has increased significantly, resulting in an urgent need for educators to develop and implement strategies to curb youth vaping. Research assessing school-based vaping prevention efforts is limited and largely confined to the US. This study assessed Australian secondary school staff members' experiences with e-cigarettes and explored (i) the presence of e-cigarette policies and educational programs, (ii) barriers to policy development and implementation, and (iii) desired support. METHODS Public, Catholic, and Independent secondary schools across Australia were sent an invitation to participate in this study, which involved completion of an online survey. A total of 218 school staff members (55% women) participated. Respondents included school principals, teachers, and other staff members. Data collection occurred May to September 2022. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. RESULTS Nearly half (46%) of all school staff members surveyed reported finding a student with an e-cigarette on campus at least monthly, and one-third (36%) of principals reported suspending or expelling students at least monthly for e-cigarette possession or use. The vast majority of those surveyed agreed that e-cigarette use is increasingly becoming a problem in secondary schools (93%) and reported being concerned about e-cigarette use by students (94%). Only half (51%) reported that their school had an e-cigarette policy in place. The discreet appearance of e-cigarettes (83%) and difficulties pinpointing from where the vapor/scent is coming (73%) were the most frequently reported barriers to policy enforcement. CONCLUSIONS The results of this study suggest that e-cigarettes present a threat to secondary school environments. There is an urgent need to develop, implement, and enforce both school- and government-level e-cigarette policies to prevent and reduce youth vaping in Australian secondary schools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The focus of much of the crisis communication and reputation management research is on the impact of a crisis and how organizations immediately respond. There has been less work in the area of post-crisis responses and, in particular, how organizations can successfully recover from the damage of a scandal. Design/Methodology: As the Government Relations and Trade Advocacy Manager and then National Regulatory Affairs Manager, the author was a member of the new management team that successfully reformed the governance of Australian Wheat Board (AWB) Limited to rebuild credibility with key stakeholders so that AWB could continue trading and successfully reintegrate into the regulatory regime. Findings: After initially mismanaging its response, AWB was ultimately able to rebuild trust with the regulator and be accredited with a licence as an approved exporter, only 2 years after the damaging findings of a Royal Commission. This was because the company undertook genuine reform and successfully changed its culture, systems, structure and governance. Research: Building on the initial analysis of AWB and the United Nations 'Oil-for-food' scandal and the research on crisis communication, the paper examines the post-scandal response by the company and re-examines the steps taken to transform the company through change and reform. Practical implications: The AWB case study provides a useful example of how a company damaged by a scandal was able to regain lost credibility and rebuild its reputation to the extent that it was able to reintegrate itself with key stakeholders, including those who were themselves damaged by the AWB scandal. Original value of the paper: The AWB case has been researched as a clear example of governance failure but most of the literature covers the period up until the new wheat marketing arrangements were introduced and there has been little analysis of what the company was required to do in response to those changes, and the results of those actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the regressive nature of tax exemptions for children compared to child allowances and estimates the decline in child poverty in several developed countries due to child allowances. The paper then estimates the decline in child poverty in the United States due to tax exemptions for children and simulates the impact of various possible child allowance programs on child poverty in the United States. It finds that a $3000 to $4000 child allowance would reduce child poverty in the United States to the level of other developed nations and, due to the costs associated with child poverty, be a cost effective policy change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to outline some of the key issues related to migrant workers, work, public policy and HRM while introducing the five articles included in the special issue. Design/methodology/approach - The paper reports on the issue which is made up of articles that present research based on surveys, interviews and longitudinal census data. Findings - It is evident that high-performing economies attract migrants from lower-performing economies. However, with influxes of migrant labour there are a number of challenges that need to be met at the organisational and policy levels. Research limitations/implications - The indications are that some economies are beginning to slow and this means that migrant flows will also slow or reverse. The implications for migrant-dependent sectors and countries are not clear, although all five papers indicate areas for further research. Practical implications - Each article includes practical implications depending on the sector, skill and country being examined. Practical implications include the role of day labour centres as HR mediators between organisations and employees, the need for culturally sensitive and tailored training programs to assist professional migrants and the need for policies geared towards the assimilation of migrants and return migrants in order to assist their integration into the labour market. Originality/value - The five articles presented here represent a wide range of approaches, skill levels and sectors within the five counties examined: the USA, UK, Australia, Canada, and Finland. Some, such as the US paper which includes the first national survey of day labour worker centres, present findings from a highly under-represented area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the legal issues that encompass the protection of migrants with unscrupulous character, under the obligations of non-refoulement, in Australia. Topics discussed include the concept of non-refoulement which is an obligation to keep migrants from returning to their countries where their lives may be at risk, adherence to this obligation based on the Migration Act of 1958, and the removal provisions relating to the migrants' unscrupulous behavior.

This paper examines advocacy, agenda-setting and the public policy focus of private philanthropic foundations in Australia. While concerns have been raised regarding advocacy and public policy influence of foundations in countries such as the U.S., less is understood on this issue in other contexts. Interviews were conducted with 11 managers and trustees of 10 Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs) in late 2014. Analysis of publicly available data on the participating PAFs was then undertaken comparing PAF information available at the time of the interviews with that available approximately five years later, to consider any changes in the public communication of their agendas. Findings reveal PAFs' agendas were largely consistent with public policy but may vary in the approaches to address social causes. Further, a preference for privacy indicates the PAF sector may be characterised as 'quiet philanthropy' rather than having a visible public presence. As such, PAFs' advocacy focused on promoting philanthropy, rather than altering or influencing public policy. Our main contention is that the conceptions of advocacy in structured philanthropy are dominated by the obvious, the outliers and the noisy. Our contribution to the philanthropic literature is a more nuanced and broader discussion of how advocacy and agenda-setting occurs and is understood in the mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to the growing literature on poverty dynamics in Australian households. The results reveal that a range of life-changing events, household head, partner and demographic characteristics have an impact on both the likelihood of remaining poor and slipping into poverty. These findings have important implications for Australian policymakers: tertiary education and employment are key factors in keeping households out of poverty; having a disability or living in outer-regional or remote areas increases the probability of becoming poor and remaining in such a situation; and finally, life-changing events, especially becoming separated, can lead households into persistent poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The particular abstractions represented by the terms 'population' and 'household' are central categories in modern demographic analysis. They form the organizing principles of national censuses in Western liberal democracies such as Australia, and profoundly influence both the collection methodology and the content of the collection instrument. This paper argues that these categories are founded on a particular metaphor, the 'bounded container', that broadly reflects the population and household structures of sedentary societies such as mainstream Australia. Bounded discrete categories are conducive to the collection of reliable census data in such societies, since 'unbounded' behaviours can be controlled for by statistical means. However, remote Aboriginal populations behave in radically unbounded ways. This paper proposes that the dominant metaphor underlying Yolngu (and much remote Aboriginal) sociality is, instead, the nodal network. It then explores the consequences of attempting to 'capture' nodal network societies in terms of models based on the bounded container. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we consider dynamic programming for the election timing in the majoritarian parliamentary system such as in Australia, where the government has a constitutional right to call an early election. This right can give the government an advantage to remain in power for as long as possible by calling an election, when its popularity is high. On the other hand, the opposition's natural objective is to gain power, and it will apply controls termed as ‘boosts’ to reduce the chance of the government being re-elected by introducing policy and economic responses. In this paper, we explore equilibrium solutions to the government, and the opposition strategies in a political game using stochastic dynamic programming. Results are given in terms of the expected remaining life in power, call and boost probabilities at each time at any level of popularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Building operations use 45% of the total energy in Australia, and Net-Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) are instrumental in achieving net zero emissions by 2050. However, research reveals that various factors hinder NZEB adoption in Australia, and it is imperative to contextualise the barriers, thereby highlighting clear gaps that can be addressed to enhance the implementation of NZEB in Australia. This study presents a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis to examine the barriers that hinder the implementation of NZEB contextualised within the Australian building industry. The paper's novelty resides in its contextualisation of barriers to NZEB thereby highlighting clear gaps that can be addressed to enhance the implementation of NZEB in Australia. Emergent results reveal the most impactful barriers experienced and the inter-relatedness between barriers and their effects on each other. These identified barriers are also compared with comparable countries, including the UK, China, Italy and the US. New insight and knowledge acquired provide a basis for assessing potential solutions to the main barriers. Findings show that a lack of knowledge, climate issues, and cost issues, in addition to government policy factors, are considered primary barriers encountered by the industry, hindering the achievement of NZEBs. It is imperative that future studies and initiatives counteract these impacts to realise a better implementation of NZEB in the Australian context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Labour immigration contributed strongly to Europe's post-war economic development. In contrast to migration to North America or Australia, these movements of labour were always seen as temporary by sending and receiving countries, and, at least initially, also by most migrants. Although many migrants stayed more permanently, return migration is a highly relevant feature in practice. Its significant role and the underlying behavioural mechanisms are not well understood, however. it is therefore not too surprising that most policy measures taken in the 1970s and 1980s to encourage return migration failed. The paper takes the view that much can be learned from recent European history. Temporary immigration schemes may be helpful to moderate illegal migration and to foster East-West economic relationships. Given the tight policies in the European Union, short-term migration seems to be the only channel to open the door slightly. The paper reviews the European history of return migration and the policy regimes in important European labour migration-receiving countries. it also provides new empirical evidence on the determinants of return behaviour anti successful return. Return propensities of migrants increase with the age at entry, but decrease with the number of years of residence. Conditional on having decided to return, however, the remaining years in the country decrease with years of residence and, keeping years of residence constant, with entry age. Return incentives may cause dissatisfaction and reintegration problems in the home country. The results support the view that economic benefits are the larger, the earlier it is clear whether migration is temporary or permanent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents information on path to full employment in relation to Australia. Employment arises because there is a lack of collective will. It does not arise because real wages are too high or aggregate demand too low. These are only proximate causes, if causes at all. The lack of collective will has been the principal casualty of the influence of rationalism. In this paper the proximate cause of unemployment is shown to be a persistent deficiency of aggregate demand. But the underlying cause is that the rise of free market ideology has meant that people are no longer prepared to bear some costs themselves to ensure others have employment. The only way people will return to full employment is if the costs and benefits of economic activity are shared. The public sector must be the vehicle to restore the collective will. In this paper, it is argued that the solution to persistent unemployment is for the Government to act as a Buffer Stock Employer, plus the reintroduction of incomes policy. Further deregulation of the wages system cannot be justified.

Background: Rural Australian populations experience an increased burden of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) compared to their metropolitan counterparts, similar to other developed countries, globally. Policy and other efforts need to address and acknowledge these differences in order to reduce inequalities in health burden. This paper examines rural health policy makers’ perceptions and use of evidence in efforts to reduce the burden of IHD in rural areas. Methods: Policy makers and government advisors (n = 21) who worked with, or advised on, rural health policy at local, state and federal government levels, with specific focus on the state of Victoria (n = 9) were identified from publicly available documents and subsequent snowball sample. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted in regards to the use of evidence in policy to prevent IHD and thematic analysis undertaken applying two theoretical perspectives: context-based evidence-based policy making and the conceptual framework for understanding rural and remote health. Results: The rural context, particularly low resourcing, was seen as limiting potential for evidence based policy at local government (LG) level. Lower levels of political pressure and education were seen as constraints to evidence-based policy in rural communities. Participants described the potential for policy to have a greater impact on reducing heart disease in rural areas though they felt under-resourced and out of touch with the scientific evidence. Scientific studies were less valued than local anecdote to prioritise specific policy. At all levels (local, state and federal) low self-efficacy in interpreting evidence and perceived lack of relevance inhibited development of evidence informed policy. Conclusion: The rural context constrains the use of scientific evidence in policy making for the prevention of heart disease in rural areas in Australia with multiple factors influencing the capacity for evidenced based health policy. This is similar to findings at the international scale and is for consideration across other developed countries that experience inequalities in IHD disease burden between rural and urban populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose Following a recent government initiated change to a consumer-directed care model across the Australian community aged care sector, the purpose of this paper is to explore frontline home support workers' perceptions of relational changes with clients in power and subordination within the triadic relationship between employer, employee and client.Design/methodology/approach Contextual interviews were held with managers (n=4), coordinators (n=10) and semi-structured face-to-face interviews with support workers (n=17) in three organizations. Interview transcripts were analyzed.Findings Some workers did not perceive a power change in their relationships with clients. Others perceived minimal change but were concerned about the incoming client generation (baby boomers) that were more aware of their rights. Others felt subordinated to the client, perceived a loss of control or that felt treated like an employee of the client. Consistent with the philosophy of consumer-directed care, senior staff encouraged clients to treat workers in this way.Research limitations/implications Further research is recommended on worker and client perceptions of relationships within the context of a consumer or client focused model.Practical implications A clear and realistic understanding of the locus of power within a triadic relationship by all actors is important for positive workplace outcomes.Social implications The increasing ageing population makes it essential that workers' relationships with clients and with their organization are unambiguous.Originality/value This study makes a contribution to theories about change and power transfer in the implementation of consumer-directed care through the perceptions of support workers. Examination of power and subordination transfer through the perceptions of the actors of rather than through the prism of organizational policy deepens the understanding of frontline service work and relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this study was to explore the service and policy structures that impact open disclosure (OD) practices in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. Participants and methods: An explorative study using semi-structured interviews was undertaken with 12 individuals closely involved in the implementation of OD in hospitals at policy or practice levels within the state of NSW, Australia. Interviews explored the service and policy structures surrounding OD and the perceived impact of these on the implementation of the OD policy. These data were thematically analyzed to understand the factors facilitating and creating barriers to openness after adverse events. Results: The data identified three key areas in which greater alignment between OD policy and the wider service and policy structures may enhance the implementation of OD practice: 1) alignment between OD and root cause analysis processes, 2) holistic training that links to other relevant processes such as communicating bad news, risk management, and professional regulation and insurance, and 3) policy clarification regarding the disclosure of incidents that result in no or low-level harm. Conclusion : Evidence from this study indicates that formal OD processes are not routinely applied after adverse events in NSW, despite clear guidelines for OD. The reasons for this are unclear as the service-level and policy-level phenomena that support or hinder OD are understudied. This knowledge is critical to addressing the policy-practice gap. Our paper provides insights regarding the influence of current service-level and policy-level phenomena on the delivery of OD and how policy clarification may contribute to addressing some of the challenges for implementing OD policy. The principles of virtue ethics – specifically, openness and the involvement of service users – may contribute to progressing in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In the context of global new public management reform trends and the associated phenomenon of performance auditing (PA), the purpose of this paper is to explore the rise of performance audit in Australia and examines its focus across audit jurisdictions and the role key stakeholders play in driving its practice. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts a multi-jurisdictional analysis of PA in Australia to explore its scale and focus, drawing on the theoretical tools of Goffman. Documentary analysis and interview methods are employed. Findings: Performance audit growth has continued but not always consistently over time and across audit jurisdictions. Despite auditor discourse concerning backstage performance audit intentions being strongly focussed on evaluating programme outcomes, published front stage reports retain a strong control focus. While this appears to reflect Auditors-General (AGs) reluctance to critique government policy, nonetheless there are signs of direct and indirectly recursive relationships emerging between AGs and parliamentarians, the media and the public. Research limitations/implications: PA merits renewed researcher attention as it is now an established process but with ongoing variability in focus and stakeholder influence. Social implications: As an audit technology now well-embedded in the public sector accountability setting, it offers potential insights into matters of local, state and national importance for parliament and the public, but exhibits variable underlying drivers, agendas and styles of presentation that have the capacity to enhance or detract from the public interest. Originality/value: Performance audit emerges as a complex practice deployed as a mask by auditors in managing their relationship with key stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways in which economic regulation accommodates uncertainty through an examination of experience of regulation in Australia against a background discussion of literature on regulatory risk and principles for good regulation. Regulation, typically in the form of incentive based price caps, often applies to aviation infrastructure, such as major airports and air navigation services. At the same time, the demand for aviation infrastructure services is uncertain and subject to external shocks. Two case studies in economic regulation of aviation infrastructure are examined. They cover a period of volatile demand associated with the collapse of a major domestic airline which coincided with the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US. One case study involves the application of price caps to newly privatized airports during 1997–2002. The other case study examines the development of a long term price path for air navigation services over 2002 to 2004. The case studies illustrate the important role played by regulatory design. The paper concludes that the design of the regulatory framework has an important role in ameliorating the risks associated with uncertainty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian tobacco market is very tightly regulated. Australian governments, like many others, have a long history of enacting various forms of control, including restricting advertising and imposing taxes. Using Australian government data, we investigate the effects of controls on cigarette market characteristics coinciding with Australia's introduction of plain packaging in 2012 (arguably the most innovative form of tobacco control in many years) as well as a subsequent tax increase. Using these data, we find no evidence to suggest that prices and market shares, key market characteristics, changed as a result of plain packaging. Moreover, using a second data set, we find that the introduction of plain packaging had no discernible effect on smoking rates. This finding is not surprising as both domestic and international research shows that government attempts to discourage new consumers, and encourage current consumers to quit, have not been very successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transport companies seek to maximise vehicle utilisation and minimise labour costs. Both goals can be achieved if the time required to fulfil a sequence of transportation tasks is minimised. However, if schedule durations are too short drivers may not have enough time for recuperation and road safety is impaired. In Australia transport companies must ensure that truck drivers can comply with Australian Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue Law and schedules must give enough time for drivers to take the amount of rest required by the regulation. This paper shows how transport companies can minimise the duration of truck driver schedules complying with Australian Heavy Vehicle Driver Fatigue Law. A mixed integer programming formulation is presented and valid inequalities are given. Computational experiments show that these inequalities provide significant reduction in computational effort when using one of the most advanced commercial mixed integer programming solver. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the relationship between government growth and real GDP per capita by developing models of federal legislative output in Australia since 1901. Growth in legislation is found to be negatively related to growth in real income per capita in the short-run, implying that legislation responds to temporary economic shocks, but without a robust long-run relationship with the level of income. The growth in the number of pages of legislation enacted and legislative complexity also show a negative short-run relationship with growth in real national income per capita and a positive long-run relationship with the level of income. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the interrelationship between two contemporary policy debates: one focused on the social determinants of health and the other on social (inclusion) policy within contemporary welfare regimes. In both debates, academics and policy makers alike are grappling with the balance between universal and targeted policy initiatives and the role of local ‘delivery’ organizations in promoting health and social equality. In this paper, we discuss these debates in the context of a recent social policy initiative in Australia: the Social Inclusion Agenda. We examine two proposed models of engagement between the government and the not-for-profit welfare sector for the delivery of social services. We conclude that the two models of engagement currently under consideration by the Australian government have substantially different outcomes for the health of disadvantaged communities and the creation of a more socially inclusive Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Extensive research has shown that few robust results regarding the optimal tax structure are available. Moreover, the stylized models used in optimal tax analyses are not appropriate for practical policy advice. This paper proposes a method of examining income tax reforms designed to move towards an optimal structure. It uses a behavioural microsimulation model in which the full extent of population heterogeneity is represented along with all the details of highly complex tax and transfer systems. The approach is illustrated using the Australian microsimulation model MITTS. The results show that welfare changes for the Australian income tax structure are not symmetric with respect to increases and decreases in tax rates. In addition, the extent of inequality aversion was found to play a much larger role in the determination of the direction of tax rate changes than the form of the welfare metric or the specification of adult equivalence scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Working from recently declassified Australian and British government files, this paper examines the archival evidence on policy thinking in London and Canberra towards the Five Power Defence Arrangements (FPDA) during the period 1970-75. The article argues that one of the main reasons for the Heath government's decision to deploy a token military force in Southeast Asia as part of a multilateral defence arrangement with Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia and Singapore was the desire to uphold these Commonwealth connections. By contrast, Canberra was beginning to question the value of such arrangements in a rapidly changing Southeast Asian strategic environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the application of demographic analysis to Indigenous Affairs public policy in Australia as an exemplar case of the demography of disadvantage. Demography has found a natural and successful role using census, survey and administrative data, but for the most part this is restricted to a series of gap analyses based on a deficit model of Indigenous well-being as measured by standard social indicators. While useful for macropolicy settings, translation of these research findings into coherent policy on the ground is thwarted by a lack of ethnographically informed data that account for the intercultural world in which many Indigenous people exist and operate. This is because the categories and contexts deployed are uncritically those of the mainstream, and not those reflective of Indigenous social structures or life projects. This inadequacy is explored against the background of an emerging dialogue between demography and anthropology. Ironically, Australian demographers pioneered such a dialogue but so far it has failed to penetrate demographic research that informs Indigenous public policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the issues in evaluating public policy interventions that are designed to address the economic burden of population ageing. It then briefly reviews the main public policy options with application to Australia. The economic burden of ageing is defined as the burden on national economic well-being over time and the extent to which this burden is shared between the public and private sectors. A key policy issue is the extent to which the economic burden of ageing should be spread out over present and future generations. This depends on how we value the economic well-being of future generations relative to our own, future projections of economic growth, and the rate at which our subjective sense of well-being improves with our living standards. The paper discusses policies to boost the labour force participation rates of older workers, measures to boost fertility and immigration policy. Also discussed are several policies to shift the burden of ageing from the public to private sectors: the establishment of government financial funds such as the Future Fund, superannuation policy, and health and aged care policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focus of Presentation Rheumatic fever (RF) and rheumatic heart disease (RHD) are endemic among Indigenous Australians. End RHD in Australia: Study of Epidemiology (ERASE) aimed to characterize contemporary RF/RHD epidemiology. Using multi-jurisdictional linked data from several administrative sources, we undertook sub-studies covering diverse epidemiological questions, requiring substantial methods development. Mixed methods further identified barriers/facilitators to inform system redesign. Our multi-disciplinary collaboration supported diverse initiatives to contribute to policy at government, service and community/stakeholder levels. We show how findings from ERASE were applied/translated to address the impact of RF/RHD in Australia. Findings Academic: >15 papers and commentaries/editorials provided the backbone to translational outputs and methods sharing. PhD students have ongoing projects using ERASE datasets. Advocacy: ERASE epidemiological and economic information supported the Endgame Strategy (roadmap for eliminating RHD in Australia by 2031) presented to government. Health professionals: ERASE data contributed to Australian RF/RHD guidelines. Slides of results/interpretation are publically-available on the RHDAustralia website. Student lectures integrate biomedical and culturally-informed perspectives. Indigenous stakeholder engagement: involves (1)presentations to peak Indigenous-controlled organisations (2)co-designed resources (booklets/slides) for capacity-building of RHDAustralia's national Champions4Change network (3)research workshops to promote two-way learning and health literacy/numeracy. Challenges remain regarding strengths-based approaches when reporting high disparities. Conclusions/Implications Strong translational commitment and national multi-disciplinary networks of Indigenous and non-Indigenous collaborators ensured ERASE generated multiple outputs that continue to inform training, practice, policy and community health literacy. Key messages Build translation and broad collaboration into study from the start. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - In the wake of public service liberalisation in many OECD countries, economic interventions into the purpose and implementation of social policies have gained a lot of interest in recent years. The prime aim of this paper is to describe the nature of these interventions. The paper examines the reasons for pursuing elusive efficiency objectives in the conduct of public policy, rationales for purchaser-provider splits, evaluation of cost-quality relationships, service costing and pricing, and the influence of "external" economic variables. Design/methodology/approach - The paper breaks the analysis of public policy down to three layers of economic interventions: macroeconomics (allocative efficiency, intervention rationales and macroeconomic environment), mesoeconomics (economics of delivery in "social industries") and microeconomics (agent behaviour, contracting, pricing and evaluation). Each level of economic intervention is illustrated with examples, mainly taken from Australian public policy and mainstream social economic research. Findings - Some of the most critical questions in policy implementation (outsourcing, pricing, contracting and agency problems) can be traced back to economic reforms. Experiments with new modes of service delivery are driven by a changing economic context, yet the efficiency gains from these innovative approaches may come at the expense of service quality. Practical implications - Changing macro-, meso- and microeconomic variables profoundly alter the parameters of service delivery. Designers and managers of service delivery systems need to be aware of - and skilled in - the practical application of economic principles, concepts and methods. Originality/value - Except for the health sector, there is a lack of consistent research on the intecrelationships between the standard economics toolkit and the delivery of public services. Yet the two are profoundly intertwined. The paper helps distinguish these relationships by putting together elements of conceptual analysis and fieldwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the prices of housing in Australia and recommends several policy options. This paper draws on a collaborative research program that examined Australia's housing affordability problem. The author contends that the problem is not due to current factors but has arisen from many decades of policy. She also states that renters in housing stress is a significant problem and needs to be addressed through a reorientation of government policy. It should encourage increasing the supply of rental housing.

This paper examines the recent NSW state government reassessment of the role of live music venues, and the gradual inclusion of live music within broader urban cultural policy across Australia. Focusing on Sydney, it maps the live music venue at the intersection of competing policy agendas, alternatively viewed as 'vibrant', exciting sites that represent a rejuvenated inner-city culture; or as sites of disruption, encouraging anti-social activity on the margins of legality (or sometimes both). The 'rehabilitation' of live music in the eyes of key government sectors was not simply a matter of 'good' cultural policy, but the result of a combination of many factors. The paper documents and analyses a six-year campaign by various stakeholders to implement noise, building code, late-night trading and liquor law reforms designed to ensure the survival of live performance venues and scenes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There have been few studies that analyse the impact of OHS on the value of Australian firms; yet this is an important area of business for both small and large businesses. In this paper we pay particular attention to the impact of Victorian Workcover Authority prosecutions of listed Australian firms. USA based research shows that OHS prosecutions have a negative impact on firm value and we find some evidence to support the existence of negative share price reaction to OHS prosecution in our sample of listed Australian firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since at least the 1970s, employee share ownership has enjoyed bipartisan support in Australia. Despite broad and sustained public policy interest in employee share ownership, Australian literature on the subject remains scarce. There has also been very little in the way of comprehensive analysis of the regulatory framework. This paper provides an overview of employee share ownership from an Australian perspective. It be- gins by reviewing the literature on broad-based employee share ownership before turning to examine available data on Australian practice. It then considers how employee share ownership plans are currently provided for in public policy and law. Companies in Australia proposing to offer securities to employees must comply with a myriad of regulatory requirements. This paper examines these requirements. It also examines features of the current regulatory framework which have been identified as problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]