Policy Makers In Australia Research Articles

Explaining the achievement gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students: an analysis of PISA 2009 results for Australia and New Zealand

This study investigates the relative roles of home and school variables in accounting for achievement gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students in Australia and New Zealand. Using data from the Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA] 2009, our findings show that achievement gaps between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students are associated with both home and school resources, not only in terms of unequal allocations but also in relation to differences in the rates at which home and school affordances are converted into positive educational outcomes. In both countries, home resources accounted for more of the achievement gap than differences in schooling resources. However, the achievement gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students is substantially larger in Australia than in New Zealand, apparently related to greater inequity in the allocation of school resources. We suggest that education policymakers in Australia ensure a more equitable allocation of school resources between Indigenous students and their non-Indigenous peers.

Tourism Policy-Making in Australia: A National and State Perspective

The paper explores recent approaches to policy-making for tourism in Australia. A conceptual model is utilised to identify the major influences on the policy-making processes through interviews with representatives of key agencies and expert observers of Australian policy. By considering the factors from outside the tourism policy system, those from inside the tourism policy system and from the policy process itself, the paper identifies the main themes that help to understand influences on policy-making. Themes are overwhelmingly related to the neoliberal and economic environment. Particular findings relate to the influence of the peak industry bodies, the skewed nature of governance and the limited range of information used by the policy-makers. In essence, the space for policy-making is relatively limited by the neoliberal context within which tourism operates in Australia.

Cost efficient low-emission housing: implications for household cash-flows in Melbourne

A number of international jurisdictions have articulated a longer term goal of zero emission housing standards. However, in Australia, housing energy efficiency remains a contested policy area. In part, this is due to a lack of clear cost-benefit information on low emission housing standards, including impacts at the household level. This research investigated the lifetime economics of low emission housing options for typical housing in Melbourne, Australia. The analysis found that for a zero emission house, there was an additional capital cost of $25,637. This translated into extra yearly mortgage repayments of $2,117 at an interest rate of 7.89% across 25 years. However, energy efficiency cost savings of $1,547 a year were calculated, leaving a gap of $570/year in additional mortgage repayments. As a result, policy makers in Australia should focus on reducing upfront costs and developing innovative financial frameworks in order to make low emission housing achievable.

Measuring tourism as the economic driver of Australian sea change communities

The sea change phenomenon – the population movement from metropolitan areas or inland regional centers to coastal regions – has attracted increasing attention from academics and policy-makers in Australia. In this paper, we move from a demographic perspective to an integrative perspective to approach Australian sea change communities. We construct a new typology of the sea change communities, which reflects both population change and economic change. Through examining the economic bases of 15 representative sea change communities across Australia, we find that: (1) overall, tourism industries are the dominant local economic drivers, and the dominance has been strengthening; (2) the sea change communities differ from each other in the local economic drivers, and the determining factors include distance from the metropolitan center, population size, and population density; and (3) there is a new trend of growing importance of cultural and recreational services in driving the local economies.

Vocational education and training in Australia and three-dimensional federalism

Education policy-making in Australia remains one of the most complex of government’s responsibilities, affecting a broad spectrum of social and political advancements of national and international importance. The advancement of education policy has been accepted as a key factor in achieving the labour productivity and innovation capacity that are needed to compete within the global economy and to build social capital. Yet, the challenge of development and implementation of education policy in Australia has been significantly influenced by its unique federal model, where the state and commonwealth jurisdictions increasingly overlap. This article offers a descriptive account of federal policy involvement in Australian education since federation, with particular attention to vocational education. It demonstrates that national education policy development is characterised by downwards, upwards and horizontal patterns of cooperation between national and state governments, which are in turn influenced by contextual factors such as national economic policy goals, economic and social conditions and political configurations. The article presents an innovative approach to educational research as it brings together two fields of specialisation: vocational education and training research and political science.

Trust makers, breakers and brokers: building trust in the Australian food system

BackgroundThe importance of consumer trust in the food supply has previously been identified, and dimensions of consumer trust in food—who they trust and the type of trust that they exhibit—has been explored. However, there is a lack of research about the mechanisms through which consumer trust in the food supply is developed, maintained, broken and repaired. This study seeks to address this gap by exploring if, and how, consumer trust in the food supply is considered by the media, food industry and governments when responding to food scares. The aim of the research is to develop models of trust building that can be implemented following food scares.MethodsSemi-structured interviews will be undertaken with media, public relations officials and policy makers in Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Participants will be recruited through purposive sampling and will be asked to discuss a hypothetical case study outlining a food incident, and any experiences of specific food scares. Models of trust development, maintenance and repair will be developed from interview data. Comment on these models will be sought from experts in food-related organizations through a Delphi study, where participants will be asked to consider the usefulness of the models. Participants’ comments will be used to revise the models until consensus is reached on the suitability and usability of the models.DiscussionThis study will contribute to the literature about systems-based trust, and explore trust as a social and regulatory process. The protocol and results will be of interest and use to the food industry, food regulators, consumer advocate groups, media seeking to report food-related issues and policy makers concerned with public health and consumer health and well-being. This research represents an important contribution to the translation of the theoretical conceptualizations of trust into practical use in the context of food.

Relationship between Commodity Prices and Exchange Rate in Light of Global Financial Crisis: Evidence from Australia

This study seeks to identify major factors behind recent fluctuations in Australian dollar. Using quarterly data for over 30 years and cointegration and error correction models, we found that in the long run exchange rate is determined by commodity prices, interest rate and other factors such as Global Financial Crisis. We found two-way Granger causality between exchange rate and commodity prices, but one-way Granger causality from Global Financial Crisis to commodity prices. The implications of our findings is that by providing substantial incentives to Australian producers, the policy makers in Australia can ensure competitive commodity prices and exchange rate. Portfolio managers could also benefit from our findings knowing the mechanism of Global Financial Crisis impacting Australian dollar.

Health&WealthMOD2030: A Microsimulation Model of the Long Term Economic Impacts of Disease Leading to Premature Retirements of Australians Aged 45-64 Years Old.

Policymakers in Australia, like in most OECD countries, have recognised the importance of early retirement due to ill health on individuals and families, as well as on the budget balance when planning for the health needs of an ageing population. In order to understand these effects, a unique microsimulation model, called Health&WealthMOD2030, was built to estimate the impacts of early retirement due to ill health on labour force participation, personal and household income, economic hardship (poverty), and government taxation revenue, spending and GDP in the years 2010, 2015, 2020, 2025 and 2030. This paper describes the construction of Health&WealthMOD2030. The model cap tures the long term projections of demographic change, changing labour force participation patterns, real wages growth and trends in major illnesses affecting the older working age population. The base population of Health&WealthMOD2030 are the individuals aged 45-64 years with information on their workforce status and health from the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Surveys of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC) 2003 and 2009. Projected estimates of income, taxation, income support payments, savings and superannuation from the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling (NATSEM's) dynamic microsimulation model Australian Population and Policy Simulation Model (APPSIM) were synthetically matched with the base population. Health&WealthMOD2030 project forward the economic impacts of early retirement from ill health to 2030. This will fill substantial gaps in the current Australian evidence of health conditions that will keep older working age Australians out of the labour market over the long-term.

Introduction to the Special Edition: Housing and Demographic Change

The exponential growth in population has been a de!ning feature of the modern age – in 1974 the world’s population was just 4 billion and it is now estimated to be 7 billion and is likely to increase to 9.3 billion by 2050 (UNFPA 2011). Population growth will continue to have a signi!cant impact on urban regions and governments will be forced to confront a complex set of political, environmental, social and economic challenges. Taking Australia as an example, it is predicted that the nation’s population will grow from its current 22.3 million to 35 million by 2050 and over this time the proportion of people of working age is due to fall from 65% to 61% (Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure and Transport 2011). The fall in the number of people working will reduce the capacity for economic growth and generating tax revenue. We can also expect increased levels of car dependency and greater demands for health care as the population ages. The issues that face policy makers in Australia are broadly similar to those in North America, Europe and Japan. In other regions such as Africa and countries such as India, the fertility rate remains high with the proportion of young people (under 25) in some nation states already reaching 60% (UNFPA 2011).

Developments in valuation and assessment: an Australian case study

PurposeSpatially enabled taxation systems provide public policy makers in Australia with a conundrum. For the Valuers General who provide the fiscal cadastre for the taxation system, spatial enablement could lead to a central role in State Government taxation or to a sidelined role. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper uses a survey of Valuers General.FindingsThe paper establishes the current extent of adoption of spatially enabled taxation systems, identifies current provision and uses of valuation data and explores possible future provision and uses of such data.Research limitations/implicationsThe sample size for survey may limit its use elsewhere.Practical implicationsThe paper concludes that further integration and a unified national policy approach would be preferable.Originality/valueThe first published paper to establish the current extent of adoption of spatially enabled taxation systems and to identify current provision and uses of valuation data in Australasia.

End-of-Life Care in an Acute Care Hospital: Linking Policy and Practice

The care of people who die in hospitals is often suboptimal. Involving patients in decisions about their care is seen as one way to improve care outcomes. Federal and state government policymakers in Australia are promoting shared decision making in acute care hospitals as a means to improve the quality of end-of-life care. If policy is to be effective, health care professionals who provide hospital care will need to respond to its patient-centered purpose. Health services will also be called upon to train health care professionals to work with dying people in a more participatory way and to assist them to develop the clinical processes that support shared decision making. Health professionals who manage clinical workplaces become central in reshaping this practice environment by promoting patient-centered care policy objectives and restructuring health service systems to routinely incorporate patient and family preferences about care at key points in the patient's care episode.

‘By the end of the book I was none the wiser’

In reading this account of the fight to establish courses in 'political economy' (PE) at the University of Sydney I was put in mind of the old adage 'Academic politics are so vicious precisely because the stakes are so small', variously attributed to Henry Kissinger, Wallace Sayre and Woodrow Wilson. However, this would be flippant. The authors state that over 12,000 students have taken the PE courses offered at the University of Sydney since the mid 1970s. They cite Greg Combet as a prominent PE graduate. So PE may have had a significant impact on a number of people now playing an important role in policy-making in Australia.'Political Economy Now!' is written by three of the leading academic champions of PE, and represents an expansion and update of Jones and Stilwell's 1986 essay. As well as their own account, the book is augmented with the recollections of a number of former PE students, mostly now working as academics. These are interesting but uncritical. (Were there any students who regretted taking the PE options?) Overall the book is an interesting read, and the authors make no attempt to disguise that they are giving their side of the story.

Third Party Intervention Reconsidered: New Roles for Australian Industrial Tribunals

This paper examines the decisive shift away from traditional forms of third party intervention by public dispute resolution agencies in Canada, the US, Ireland and the UK. It also argues that, given the decline of dispute resolution in the Australian context and the imminent establishment of Fair Work Australia, it is timely to consider providing our federal workplace tribunal with a more expansive dispute prevention capability. In doing so, policy-makers in Australia would be wise to consider the recent experience of comparable overseas agencies. Moving in this direction would fit with the government’s often-stated objectives for the new system of workplace regulation: fairness for employees, national competitiveness, and the productivity needs of businesses.

Indigenous Responses to Water Policymaking in Australia

Policy ideology in Aboriginal affairs is caught between left wing rights versus right wing responsibility arguments. Taking the radical centre position of mutual rights and responsibilities espoused by Pearson and applying it to the National Water Initiative, Eileen Willis, Meryl Pearce, Carmel McCarthy, Fiona Ryan and Ben Wadham demonstrate the way in which one Aboriginal community, Yarilena, situated in an arid and remote region of South Australia, has met the challenge. They show the initiatives instigated by the community that are applicable to other Aboriginal settings, and the challenges facing governments who take seriously the policy formulation of mutual obligation within the Pearson framework.

Public Values Embedded in Australian Public Works Procurement

Procurement arrangements for public works are highly contextualized as jurisdictions adapt and respond to local issues and constraints. Policy-makers in Australia at all levels are focused on protecting public values when procuring public works. Public values are shown here to be consistent across Australian jurisdictions, although considerable variety exists in the institutional arrangements that safeguard these values.

Educational and institutional flexibility of Australian educational software

PurposeThis paper aims to provide context for papers in this special issue on Australasian e‐learning. The paper aims to examine the background to Australian flexible and transnational education and to evaluate the educational and intuitional flexibility of three typical products of the Australian educational software industry.Design/methodology/approachThe history of Australian distance education is summarised and drivers for flexible education are presented. A model of flexible educational software is introduced with three dimensions: educational, institutional and support/training. Three educational software products are informally reviewed using this model to establish that the current generation of Australian educational software offers significant educational and institutional flexibility.FindingsThe three examples of Australian educational software rate highly in both educational and institutional flexibility and also offer excellent support.Research limitations/implicationsThe existence of hot spots of educational technology innovation in relatively isolated areas such as Perth and Tasmania warrants further investigation.Practical implicationsThe Australian educational software industry produces extremely flexible products with excellent support that are worthy of consideration by international customers. Policy makers in Australia are alerted that current policies in ICT off shoring and the Australian Research Quality Framework (equivalent to the British Research Assessment Exercise) may threaten this industry, which contributes to sizable exports in transnational education.Originality/valueThe paper brings the flexible nature of Australian educational software to light for an international audience.

Use of the single factoral terms of trade to analyse agricultural production*

The aim in this note is to reintroduce the single factoral terms of trade into the policy arena. This economic concept has scarcely been used by analysts or policy makers over the past three decades. It is defined and compared favourably with other terms of trade concepts in terms of their usefulness to agricultural policy makers in Australia. A distinction is made between the single factoral terms of trade from the viewpoint of the farm business and from the viewpoint of the farm household, but only slightly different indices are specified in each case because of the very high positive correlation between farm prices paid and consumer prices. Developing industry‐level indices appears to be a more attractive way to proceed given the substantially different rates of growth in total factor productivity (TFP) between agricultural industries. Despite its usefulness, challenges lie ahead in accurately estimating each of the two components of the single factoral terms of trade, the net barter terms of trade and TFP, and the relations between these two components.

D.N.A. Databases and Property Crime: A False Promise?

This article examines the potential for the Australian national criminal deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) database in its application to high volume property crimes, such as burglaries and motor vehicle thefts, and is based primarily on UK data. The potential capacity for police to achieve convictions from reported property offences, and to lower crime levels, was assessed by analysing UK Forensic Science Service and Police inspection reports. The UK national criminal DNA database was selected for examination, as it is the world's longest established and claims the highest “match” rate. It was found that after the database had been in operation for more than seven years it was responsible on average for achieving convictions in close to one percent of reported burglaries, a figure that included the additional convictions developed from the intelligence that the database provided. Having funded a DNA regime from public monies, it may be time for policymakers in Australia to critically reassess expectations for the impact that DNA databases may have on volume crime levels and to focus efforts on those crimes most likely to be solved by the application of DNA testing.

Use of bibliometric modelling for policy making

Bibliometric methods for analysing and describing research output have been supported internationally by the establishment and operation of organisations such as the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) as well as the continual calculations and release of journal lists, bibliometric indicators and rankings. Policy makers in Australia have been relying on such bibliometric information and analyses in making funding decisions and encouraging the development of research potential and strengths. Does bibliometric modelling of research productivity reflect the real impact research has for Australia's future? The paper is based on a study of three Australian research centres in the field of the geosciences. The analysis reveals a number of anomalies in the generalisations made when ISI models are used for policy decisions.

Contemporary debates in health impact assessment: What? Why? When?

Public health practitioners and policy makers in Australia have a long history of advocating for health impact assessment (HIA) to be undertaken on major public and private projects and policies. Over the past decade a number of internationally recognised guidelines and discussion papers have been developed in Australia that have tried to strengthen HIA in environmental impact assessment processes. Internationally, advocates for the development of healthy public policy have promoted HIA as a necessary step in policy development. Those with an interest in reducing health inequalities have supported this and called for a closer examination of the distributional impacts on groups within the population, especially those groups most marginalized or disadvantaged.