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This article builds a general equilibrium overlapping generations (OLG) model with heterogeneous agents to study the welfare implications of investment housing tax concessions in Australia. Removing these concessions substantially reduces the landlord rate and the use of debt. There is a steady‐state welfare gain equivalent to a 0.13% increase in lifetime consumption if the additional tax revenue from removing the concessions is used to finance a lump‐sum transfer to all households. That welfare gain rises to 1.45% if the extra tax revenue is used to provide a transfer to the housing‐poor in the form of rental assistance. Over the transition, around 70% of existing households experience a welfare gain and there are important distributional effects in both cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing interest in exploring factors that influence the success or otherwise of welfare policies in democratic countries, such as the interrelationships between the proposed policy and the context it will be introduced into, such as the sociodemographic characteristics of the population and the population's previous experience with welfare policies. However, there has been little exploration of factors that could influence general population support for long-term care for older people. The aim of this study was to investigate the general population's attitudes for determinants of high-quality aged care and different mechanisms for funding and any impact of individual characteristics on these. A representative sample of the Australian general population aged 18 years and over (N = 10,315, 52% female, 22% aged 65 years and over) drawn via quota sampling participated in the survey online. Participants were asked to rate the importance of a list of 10 determinants of quality care and their support for four models of funding, both using a five-point Likert scale. We identified consistently high expectations for long-term care services across the general population, especially among older people, females, those with a family member in care, and those living in rural or regional areas. In terms of how governments practically fund a high-quality long-term care system, we also identified broad support among the general population for both payment of a co-contribution towards the cost of care by older people using services and increased government funding for the system. Over 40% of participants said they would be willing to pay additional tax to improve access and quality of aged care services. While often neglected by governments in the past who assumed voter apathy on the topic, by comparison, our findings indicate that there is currently a strong appetite among the general population for improvements to the quality of care provided and that they are willing to consider changes to the funding model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) taxes are present in many countries with evidence that they are effective in decreasing purchases of SSBs. However, in Australia where SSB consumption per capita is high, and calls for an SSB tax are frequent, there is no SSB tax and policymakers have stated their lack of support for such a tax. We examined whether political party voting preference and sociodemographic factors affect individuals' support for an SSB tax, and whether message framing affects this support. A nationally representative sample of 1519 Australian adults was recruited for an online experimental survey. Three persuasive frames and one control frame were randomly provided to participants and measures of agreement towards an SSB tax were assessed. Sociodemographic factors and political party preference were also captured. Message framing had minimal effect on the level of support for the tax. However, participants who received the 'supportive of food and drink companies frame' showed the highest positive feelings towards the tax, and participants in rural areas had higher levels of support for an SSB tax when receiving the 'protecting teenagers' frame. Participants who voted for conservative (right-leaning) parties and for Labour (a centre-left party) had similar levels of support towards the tax, which was considerably lower than Greens voters. Undecided voters had the lowest levels of support for the tax, and the frames had limited impact on them. These findings highlight the potential role of message framing in shaping public support for an SSB tax in Australia, particularly in the context of voting preference and sociodemographic factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2022, the European Commission introduced, for the first time in its history, a windfall profit tax to be applied on "excessive" profits realized by qualified businesses operating in the "Oil and Gas" sector. Immediately after its implementation, questions arose as to its sustainability and its consistency with constitutional principles of the different member states regulating the domestic power to tax. To assess the consistency with the aforesaid rules, the article samples two countries, inside and outside the EU (Italy and Australia, respectively), and the historical precedents of the matter. Italy has been chosen due to the particularly stringent set of principles regulating the power of the legislature to tax, and Australia has been chosen because of the long-standing experience with superprofit taxes. In most of the scenarios analyzed, one common feature emerged: the complexity in defining the "Extra" nature of the profits and, consequently, the uncertainties in the calculation of the taxable base. In the case of Italy, for instance, the legislator had to intervene in several different moments to fine-tune the taxable base and restore certainty to the tax system. As a conclusion, while the taxation of extra profits should not per se be disregarded, its implementation demands a more robust and precise legal framework together with the understanding that the introduction of such a levy would be a one-way journey for the tax systems: windfall profits taxes would be here to stay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A much anticipated review of the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) and Tax Agent Services Act 2009 (Cth) was released by the Australian Treasury in October 2019 detailing 28 recommendations with regard to the operation and function of the TPB. The government responded to those recommendations supporting 20 in part, full or principle, while rejecting eight. This study gathers the views and insights of 20 Australian tax practitioners via semi-structured interviews, as to their acceptance or otherwise of the recommendations. Interview data provides evidence surrounding the Code of Professional Conduct, investigations, sanctions and safe harbour recommendations. We find that whilst in many cases practitioners both agreed and disagreed with particular recommendations, preliminary or indicative themes emerged which complicated perceptions and warrant further investigation. These preliminary or indicative themes have the potential to impact perceptions and agreement with the TPB recommendations and raise questions as to whether recommendations will ultimately achieve their objectives. Practically, the findings of this study feed into the tax policy debate, by providing insights and information to the Tax Practitioner Governance and Standards Forum and Professional Standards Council. This study answers a call for further research into tax practitioners' attitudes and behaviour and adds to the limited existing empirical literature in this space. Importantly, the research findings have the capacity to potentially break new ground in determining whether the review's recommendations will achieve their objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article develops the concept of housing market 'rentierization' to describe the shift in the treatment of housing away from its use as a consumption good to an asset from which economic rent can be extracted. Rentierization encompasses, but goes beyond, the 'financialisation of housing' that has been the focus of attention in the recent political economy of housing literature as it involves changes across land and housing market policy, fiscal-policy as well as financial policy spheres. We examine Australia as a canonical example of rentierization, conducting a historical case study that examines the returns to land and housing over the 20th century and trace its roots to developments that preceded the financial liberalization of the 1980s, including the privatization of public housing in the 1960s and 70s. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety in Australia has documented systemic failures and shocking incidences of abuse and neglect, a not uncommon story internationally. As aged care in many countries is predominantly publicly funded, it is important to understand the general public's attitudes towards aged care quality, what aspects of care quality they think are most important and their willingness to contribute to increased funding to the sector. This paper asks specifically whether self-reported aged care literacy impacts expectations and willingness to pay. More than 10,000 members of the general population were surveyed stratified by age, gender and state. Regardless of the level of aged care literacy, there was consensus about what constitutes quality care, and care priorities for the sector. However, aged care literacy affected willingness to pay to fund a better-quality aged care system. The current crisis facing Australia's aged care system and that of many other countries internationally demonstrates the central importance of general public support to drive quality improvements, recognising that increasing public expenditure on aged care is a necessary part of the solution. This study provides important baseline data from which to commence national and international conversations to consider all options for ensuring the quality, safety and sustainability of aged care now and into the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: In Australia, cask wine is the cheapest alcoholic beverage available, offering the lowest price per standard drink. Despite this, there is little research on the contextual correlates of cask wine consumption. Therefore, the current study aims to describe how cask wine consumption has changed over the last decade. Then, through comparisons between cask and bottled wine, how prices, typical drinking locations, and patterns of consumption differ between the beverages. Methods: Cross‐sectional data was drawn from two sources. Four waves of the National Drug Strategy Household Survey were used (2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019) in order to examine consumption trends over time. The International Alcohol Control study (2013) in Australia was additionally used to explore pricing and consumption trends in greater detail. Results: Cask wine was considerably cheaper than other forms of wine at $0.54 per standard drink (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.45–0.62, p < 0.05). Consumption trends associated with cask wine differed from that of bottled wine, being consumed almost entirely at home and in significantly greater quantity (standard drinks per day 7.8, 95% CI 6.25–9.26, p < 0.05). Among the heaviest drinkers, 13% (95% CI 7.2–18.8, p < 0.05) consumed cask wine as their main drink, compared to 5% (95% CI 3.76–6.24, p < 0.05) consuming bottled wine. Conclusions: Cask wine drinkers are disproportionately more likely to consume higher amounts of alcohol, paying less per drink doing so compared to bottled wine drinkers. As all cask wine purchases were under $1.30, a minimum unit price may largely affect cask wine purchases, applying to a far smaller proportion of bottled wine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Incidence rates of melanoma and keratinocyte skin cancers have been on the rise globally in recent decades. While there has been a select focus on personal sun protection awareness, to our knowledge, there is a paucity of legislation in place to help support citizens' efforts to protect themselves from the harmful effects of ultraviolet radiation (UVR). Given this, we conducted a comprehensive review of legislation and guidelines pertaining to a variety of sun protection-related topics in countries of the Group of Seven (G7), Australia and New Zealand. Australia was the only country to have banned tanning beds for individuals of all ages, while other select countries have instituted bans for minors. In workplace policy, there is very little recognition of the danger of occupational UVR exposure in outdoor workers, and thus very few protective measures are in place. With regard to sports and recreation, certain dermatological/professional associations have put forward recommendations, but no legislation was brought forward by government bodies outside of Australia and New Zealand. With regard to youth, while there are various guidelines and frameworks in place across several countries, adherence remains difficult in the absence of concrete legislation and standardization of procedures. Finally, only Australia and a few select jurisdictions in the United States have implemented sales tax exemptions for sunscreen products. In light of our findings, we have made several recommendations, which we anticipate will help reduce the rates of melanoma and keratinocyte cancers in years to come. However, minimizing UVR exposure is not without risk, and we, therefore, suggest the promotion of vitamin D supplementation in conjunction with sun protective practices to limit potential harm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) plays a crucial role in administering the complex tax laws of Australia. Its administrative function involves issuing guidance, such as taxation rulings, taxation determinations and practical compliance guidelines, to enhance certainty and fairness for taxpayers while promoting compliance. However, concerns have arisen about the ATO's evolving role, with some claiming the ATO is overstepping its boundaries by assuming functions beyond its executive mandate. This article delves into the evolving role of the ATO and presents instances where it may be exceeding its executive responsibilities, by exercising judicial and legislative functions through the rulings system, increasingly resembling that of a "lore" and "law" maker. This article examines the complexities of the ATO's role and how its expanding role poses challenges to the principles of the rule of law and the doctrine of the separation of powers. This underscores the need to strike a balance between the ATO's executive functions and upholding the rule of law and the separation of powers for fair and efficient tax administration in Australia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]