This publication contains current research and analysis on a broad range of issues topical to Australia's social policy and its administration. Special section: papers from the conference 'Income support, labour markets and behaviour: a research agenda'

This paper compares a stylised version of a basic income flat tax system (BI/FT) with a means tested graduated tax system (MT/GT), with particular attention paid to potential labour supply effects of taxes. A highly simplified simulation model is developed in which individuals are homogeneous...

In October 1998, I was one of five economists who wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, suggesting a suite of policies that could help to substantially reduce the unemployment rate to around 5 per cent. The other four were John Freebairn, Ross Garnaut, Michael Keating and Chris Richardson. This...

Whilst employment levels in Australia are healthy when compared to those twenty years ago, the available work has become increasingly polarised into either all-work or no-work households. This paper measures the extent of polarisation that has taken place in Australia since 1982 with a measure...

Individual and household based aggregate measures of joblessness offer conflicting signals about labour market performance. This paper shows that while individual based measures of joblessness have remained fairly stable over the last 10 years or so and have fallen after highs in the early...

Whilst employment levels in Australia are healthy when compared to those twenty years ago, the available work has become increasingly polarised into either all-work or no-work households. This paper measures the extent of polarisation that has taken place in Australia between 1982 and 1997/98...

This paper summarises a large project involving many studies to evaluate the effects on employment and unemployment in Australia of macroeconomic, wage restraint, taxation and social security systems, and of education and training policies. One set of studies finds that the NAIRU is an uncertain...