This article examines the redistributive impact of Commonwealth outlays and taxes (including outlays directed through and to the States)and two possible alternative systems of distributing Commonwealth funding amongst the States

While static microsimulation models of the tax-transfer system are now available throughout the developed world, health microsimulation models are much rarer. This is, at least in part, due to the difficulties in creating adequate base micro-datasets upon which the microsimulation models can be...

In recent years outlays on the Australian Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme have increased rapidly, prompting both attempts by government to reduce growth in outlays and renewed interest in the characteristics of the beneficiaries of the Scheme. This article uses a microsimulation model to analyse...

The past decade has seen major reforms to the design of Australia’s tax system. This paper outlines these reforms and examines their distributional impact across the household income spectrum. While the authors estimated tax incidence in Australia prior to the July 2000 (ANTS) reforms (which...

Modelling of the revenue and, as appropriate, distributional impacts of policy options - known as "costings" - is an important input to policy decision making and provides a valuable evidence base for public debate. There is significant interest in the medium-term financial impact of tax policy...

This paper examines the impact of changes to Australia’s student financing system on various hypothetical students who choose the Government’s proposed deferred payment options, HECS-HELP and FEE-HELP. The present values of their HECS repayments under the existing (2004) system are compared...

Effective marginal tax rates (EMTRs) provide a way of measuring the balance between targeting of welfare payments and the financial incentive to work. High EMTRs result from income tests for welfare payments overlapping with each other and/or the income tax system. Individuals who face high...

Modelling of the revenue and, as appropriate, distributional impacts of policy options - known as "costings" - is an important input to policy decision making and provides a valuable evidence base for public debate. There is significant interest in the medium-term financial impact of tax policy...