Grattan Institute

In May 2021, the Federal Government announced a $18 billion package in response to the findings of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. Eighty thousand additional home care packages were announced to help reduce the significant waiting lists. But has this been enough to help provide care to some of our most vulnerable community members? Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, and Stephen Duckett, Health and Aged Care Program Director, discuss his new report on how to further improve home care.

The John Button Oration provides the opportunity for a prominent Australian to give a talk on policy in honour of the legacy of John Button. This year the oration was given by Grattan CEO, Danielle Wood, on the topic of The Next Generation’s Australia. We are grateful to the University of Melbourne and the Melbourne School of Government for hosting this event, and Professor John Howe for his introduction. To read the full text of Danielle's speech, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/news/john-button-oration-the-next-generations-australia/

After years where inflation has been low and stable, suddenly there’s lots of talk about inflation. But how worried should we be? And what does it mean for the Australian economy, for interest rates and for Australian workers’ wages? Join Brendan Coates, Economic Policy Program Director, Alex Ballantyne, Senior Associate, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, as they tackle whether or not we should be worried about inflation.

At COP26, 197 countries signed the Glasgow climate pact, which aims to phase down unabated coal power throughout the world. Find out what happened at COP26 and the impact these decisions will have on Australian climate policy, in a conversation with Tony Wood, Energy and Climate Change Program Director, Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, and James Ha, Associate. Read the Towards Net Zero report series: https://grattan.edu.au/towards-net-zero/

Last week, the Federal Government released their plan to meet Australia’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. It’s a major breakthrough in Australia’s climate war, but is it enough? Just in time for the Glasgow climate conference COP26, Grattan’s climate change and energy team have released the last report in their report series, Towards net zero: A practical plan for Australia's governments. On this podcast are Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, and James Ha, Associate, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, discussing where Australia’s governments should start in the quest for net zero. To read the report series visit: https://grattan.edu.au/towards-net-zero/

Australians have a passionate love affair with cars. We use them to travel this vast and wide country, to visit friends and family, and carry our tools. Not to mention, do burnouts. But cars and their by-products also have a detrimental effect on our environment, health and wellbeing. And reducing our emissions from cars is just one of the puzzle pieces in reaching net zero by 2050. So, what policies can government put in place to make sure Australians can continue to enjoy cars, while reducing the negative social and environmental effects? To hear about their new report, The Grattan car plan: practical policies for cleaner transport and better cities, join Ingrid Burfurd, Senior Associate, and Lachlan Fox, Graduate Associate, with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, on the Grattan podcast.

Earlier this month, The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, or APRA for short, wrote to home loan lenders across the country to recommend strengthening mortgage lending assessments. The reason for this? The explosive and rapid increase in housing prices due to extended lockdowns and low-interest rates, and a rapid growth in bank lending to buy them. Households are borrowing more money than ever to reach the extraordinary prices needed to secure a home. But is this the right move? Who does it help and who does it hurt? And will it be enough to restrain a market that doesn’t show signs of slowing down any time soon. Or are there more changes yet to come? Join Kat Clay, Grattan's Head of Digital Communications, in conversation with Brendan Coates, on how to rein in property prices in Australia, and whether we should.

Net zero emissions. It’s the target everyone is talking about, from the Federal Government, to foreign governments, and from boardrooms to broadsheets. Although achieving net zero emissions globally is essential for limiting climate change, the target and how we get there are not very well understood. And one of the most contentious issues is offsetting: can we really pay others to reduce their emissions, or pay to suck carbon out of the atmosphere, to balance out our own emissions? Join Tony Wood, the Director of Grattan’s Energy and Climate Change Program, and Alison Reeve, Deputy Director, as they discuss their latest net zero report with co-author, James Ha, Associate.

In 2019, the agriculture sector was responsible for 15% of Australia's carbon emissions. But how do you take action in a sector where most emissions come from animals like cows and sheep? It's also a sector which is vulnerable to climate change. Changes in rainfall patterns, threats of heatwaves and bushfires, all threaten the livelihoods of farmers. Join Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, discussing the third report in Grattan's series on how Australia can reach net zero, with Tony Wood, Energy and Climate Change Program Director, and James Ha, Associate. To read the report in discussion visit: https://grattan.edu.au/report/towards-net-zero-practical-policies-to-reduce-agricultural-emissions/

Most Australians wouldn’t have given too much thought to the Reserve Bank of Australia. Apart from when it changes official interest rates following its monthly meetings, the role and importance of the RBA, and its governor Phil Lowe, is little understood or even acknowledged. But the Reserve Bank is now facing rare criticisms by leading economists for not having met its core targets for nearly a decade. And this week, international think tank the OECD has called for a review of the RBA. A call since endorsed by Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who said he’d consider a review after the next election. And with the Federal ALP previously calling for an independent review of the Reserve Bank in April, it’s increasingly likely the RBA will next year face its first independent review in 40 years. Watch Brendan Coates, Economic Policy Program Director, discuss the role of the RBA and whether it should be reviewed with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communication. For more information, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/

Children aged 12 and over will be eligible for vaccination from September 13. While this is great news for parents with children over 12, it’s left many parents of young children concerned. After all, what happens to unvaccinated kids when we open up? And when they go back to school and childcare, is there a plan for managing the inevitable outbreaks? Jordana Hunter, Education Program Director, and Anika Stobart, Associate with Grattan’s health program, answer some of the most common questions about children and COVID in the latest podcast with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications. For more information, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/

On Sunday, Dads across Australia were celebrated by their families for Father’s Day – whether in-person or virtually. But for new dads, Australia has one of the least generous parental leave schemes in the developed world. And Australian fathers have been reluctant to access what little leave is available to them. To coincide with Father’s Day, the Grattan team has released a new report – Dad Days: how more gender-equal parental leave would improve the lives of Australian families. Discussing their report is Danielle Wood, CEO, and Owain Emslie, Senior Associate, with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications.

With NSW and Victoria in lockdown, cases rising every day, protesters clashing in the streets, and Delta reaching our most vulnerable remote communities, you might be feeling that the only light at the end of the tunnel is the successful vaccination rollout to Australia. But even the modelling around vaccinations is fraught with differing opinions. At what point should Australia open up? 70% vaccination rate? 80%? Should we even come out of lockdowns if we reach these targets? Listen to Stephen Duckett, Health and Aged Care Program Director in conversation with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, about what’s going on with Australia’s vaccine rollout. For more information, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/

Australia faces the great challenge of climate change. If we keep going the way we are going, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has warned the earth is likely to see a 1.5C increase in temperature by 2030, resulting in increased catastrophic weather events such as drought, fire and flood. These warnings call for urgent change. In 2020, the industrial sector was responsible for 31% of Australia's emissions. And our emissions in the sector have only increased over the past fifteen years. But how can we reduce carbon emissions in the industrial sector while maintaining jobs and the economy? Listen to Tony Wood, Program Director, Energy and Climate Change, Alison Reeve, Deputy Program Director, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications in conversation about their new report, Towards Net Zero: Practical policies to reduce industrial emissions. Read the report online: http://grattan.edu.au/

Compared to the rest of the world, Australia has fared incredibly well throughout the global COVID pandemic. We have had fewer cases and deaths than most countries, fewer days in lockdown, and one of the shortest recessions. But that’s not to say maintaining this suppression strategy hasn’t been easy. Sydney is experiencing a large Delta outbreak yet; Victoria just came out of its fifth lockdown. With only 14 per cent of Australians fully vaccinated, and vaccine supplies still constrained, it feels like there is no end in sight. Other countries like the UK and US are beginning to reopen and go back to life as normal, yet Australia is still shut off from the rest of the world. But the good news is, vaccines give us a way out. The wonder of vaccines is that they can carry us out of this mess to a world where lockdowns are no longer needed, and COVID is not a major public health threat. Join Tom Crowley, Will Mackey, Anika Stobart, and Brendan Coates, as they discuss their latest report Race to 80: our best

Australia’s governance is going backwards. Without change, there is little prospect for many substantial policy reforms that would increase Australian prosperity. Should we pine for the golden years of Australian policy reform, or is there a way forward from here? Listen to Grattan’s founding CEO, John Daley, in conversation with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, on his last Grattan report, Gridlock: removing barriers to policy reform. Read the report on our website: https://grattan.edu.au/

Australia’s state and territory governments have all committed to reach net-zero emissions by 2050 - or earlier. And the Federal Government has indicated they’d like to meet that goal too. But to get there, Australia needs to dramatically cut its emissions across each sector of the economy. Some sectors, such as transport, have had lower emissions since the COVID-19 pandemic, but those emissions are set to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Australia is not on track for net zero, and urgently needs good policies to push its emissions down. Join Alison Reeve, Energy and Climate Change Fellow, and James Ha, Associate, as they discuss their new report series Towards Net Zero with Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications.

The federal government’s Your Future, Your Super Bill, which passed Parliament in June, is the latest in a long line of reforms aimed at reining in Australia’s woefully high superannuation costs. But how many of us really understand whether our super fund is performing well – or not? Join Brendan Coates, Grattan's Economic Policy Program Director, Xavier O’Halloran, Director of Super Consumers Australia, and Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, as they break down the complexities of superannuation reform. Your Super comparison tool: https://www.ato.gov.au/YourSuper-Comparison-Tool/

In June 2020, Grattan Institute published a report called COVID catch-up: helping disadvantaged students close the equity gap. What we didn’t know was the impact this report would go on to have across Australia. One year later, half-a-billion dollars of funding has been dedicated to tutoring programs from both NSW and Victorian governments, and students are now getting the very real support they need. It’s proof of the power of good policy research to change Australia for the better. Join Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, Jordana Hunter, Education Program Director, and Julie Sonnemann, Education Fellow, as they chart the course of this impactful report – and where education policy can go from here. Take the education survey: http://ow.ly/xR0D50Fex6Q Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate

Australia’s vaccine rollout has been a train-wreck. Missed deadlines. A lack of transparency. Not to mention, expensive. And data published by The Age and Sydney Morning Herald suggest that a third of Australians are hesitant about getting vaccinated. A lack of information and confusing messages about who can get vaccinated, where, and when, have left everyday Australians reluctant to get the jab. Join Kat Clay, Head of Digital Communications, in discussion with Stephen Duckett, Health and Aged Care Program Director, on how to fix Australia's COVID vaccine rollout. Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate