Grattan Institute

Bright young Australians are interested in becoming teachers, but are put off by low pay and poor career progression. That’s the finding of Australia’s first survey of young high achievers on their attitudes to teaching as a career choice. In this Grattan Institute State of Affairs event, Julie Sonnemann, Graham Moloney, Isobel Dagg and Paul Kennard discussed what changes can be made to position a teaching career as an attractive option for young Australians. This event was held in partnership with the State Library of Queensland. For more information, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/

Drivers should be charged $5 to enter the Sydney and Melbourne CBDs in the morning peak and another $5 to exit in the afternoon peak, as part of a package of reforms to make our biggest cities work better. The scheme would reduce the number of cars entering the CBDs each morning by about 40 per cent. The money raised should be spent on upgrading CBD streets to make them safer and less congested for pedestrians. Listen to two of Grattan's transport experts, Senior Associate Greg Moran and Associate James Ha talk about why it's time for congestion charging in Australia.

London. Singapore. Stockholm. What do these cities have in common? Congestion charging. Australia’s capital cities should join them by charging drivers who use the busiest roads at the busiest times. Listen to two of Grattan's transport experts, Senior Associate Greg Moran and Associate James Ha talk about why it's time for congestion charging in Australia. You can read the report discussed in this podcast on our website: https://grattan.edu.au/report/why-its-time-for-congestion-charging/

Chaotic approaches to energy policy have pushed up electricity prices and scared off investors. Governments feel compelled to respond when electricity supply is lost and when prices are too high, but ad hoc and uncoordinated actions by federal and state governments have made things worse. Listen to Grattan Institute's Energy Program Director Tony Wood and Fellow Guy Dundas discuss solutions for Australia's electricity market with Paul Austin.

Australia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement means cutting carbon emissions to near zero over the next 30 years. Doing this at reasonable cost while maintaining reliability will require reforms and investment unprecedented in scale and complexity. Yet, recent history raises concerns that we need new foundations to underpin the policy reform agenda. This is an event recording of a public forum in the Energy Future series, hosted by Melbourne Energy Institute and Grattan Institute. Speakers Chloe Munro, Professorial Fellow, Monash University Richard Bolt, Vice President of Strategy and Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology Tony Wood, Energy Program Director, Grattan Institute Moderator Madeleine Morris, Reporter, 7.30 at Australian Broadcasting Corporation

Australia’s commitment to the Paris Agreement means cutting carbon emissions to near zero over the next 30 years. This must be done at the lowest cost, while ensuring energy supplies remain reliable. This historic task is a challenge and an opportunity. The reforms and investments required will be unprecedented in their scale and complexity. But Australia has the energy and other resources to flourish in this low-carbon future. Listen to Grattan Institute's Energy Program Director Tony Wood and Fellow Guy Dundas tackle the future of energy in Australia with podcast host, Paul Austin.

University leaders are calling for the re-instatement of demand driven funding, which let them enrol unlimited numbers of bachelor-degree students. At the same time, there are widespread calls for the vocational education system to be strengthened to attract more young people, especially into the trades. Are these goals in tension? What advice should we give people thinking about their post-school options? Listen to Professor Linda Kristjanson AO, Professor Peter Noonan, Frances Coppolillo, and Higher Education Program Director Andrew Norton discuss the choice between vocational and higher education in this event held in partnership with State Library Victoria.

Australia’s top teachers should be able to earn $80,000 a year more, and top school-leavers should get $10,000-a-year scholarships if they take up teaching, as part of a $1.6 billion blueprint to boost teacher quality and student performance. The reform package could double the number of high achievers who choose to become teachers, and increase the average ATAR of teaching graduates to 85, within the next decade. Listen to Grattan Institute's School Education Program Director Peter Goss, School Education Fellow Julie Sonnemann and Associate Jonathan Nolan discuss the new report, 'Attracting high achievers to teaching'.

Today’s young Australians are in danger of being the first generation in memory to have lower living standards than their parents’ generation. Older Australians today spend more and have higher incomes and greater wealth than older Australians three decades ago. But living standards have improved far less for younger Australians. The wealth of households headed by someone under 35 has barely moved since 2004. Listen to Grattan Institute's Budget Policy Program Director Danielle Wood, Senior Associate Kate Griffiths, and Associate Owain Emslie discuss this topic with Paul Austin.

Some university students with low school results would be better off doing vocational education instead. Listen to Grattan Institute's Higher Education Program Director Andrew Norton discuss with Paul Austin when TAFE is a good alternative to university.