Grattan Institute

All Australians are spending more of their incomes on housing, but worsening affordability is hurting low-income earners the most. Almost half of low-income Australians in the private rental market suffer rental stress. It’s probably no coincidence that homelessness is rising. There is a powerful case for additional government support to help Australia’s most disadvantaged cope with high housing costs. Housing First policies have halved homelessness in countries like Finland. But not all policies are equally effective. So what should the Queensland State government and the Federal Government do to tackle these challenges? How should they target programs: should they focus just on social housing for those right at the bottom, or should they fund affordable housing for “key workers” in the inner city? How should additional support be delivered: as government funded development; as subsidies for developers; by imposing planning conditions for new developments; or as rent assistance directly into the bank accounts of renters on low incomes? And what is the role of planning and the private housing market? In this State of Affairs event at the State Library of Queensland, Executive Director of National Shelter, Adrian Pisarski, and Grattan Institute CEO John Daley discuss what’s the best way to help low-income earners deal with rising housing costs and to reduce the number of Queenslanders who are homeless.

Australia needs to decarbonise its energy supply to meet its international commitments on greenhouse gas emissions. Electricity from wind and solar can help – but how do we reduce emissions from the gas we use to warm our homes, heat water and cook dinner? The COAG Energy Council has set up a taskforce to examine the role of hydrogen in Australia’s energy system. Hydrogen can be produced from zero-emissions sources, and can be mixed in with natural gas in pipelines today. Over time, the gas network could switch to 100 per cent hydrogen, potentially delivering abundant emissions-free energy to households and businesses. In this Forward Thinking event Alison Reeve from the COAG Hydrogen Taskforce, Peter Harcus from Jemena Gas Networks and Craig Memery from the Public Interest Advocacy Centre joined Grattan’s Tony Wood to discuss whether hydrogen will become a key part of Australia’s energy supply.

Event podcast: In this Policy Pitch event at the State Library of Victoria, Council of Homeless Persons CEO Jenny Smith, Residential Tenancies in Victoria inaugural Commissioner Dr Heather Holst and Grattan Institute Fellow Brendan Coates discussed the best way to help low-income earners deal with rising housing costs and reduce the number of Australians who are homelessness.

Event podcast: In this Forward Thinking event, Grattan Institute’s Brendan Coates and The Australian Financial Review’s Joanna Mather discussed what the winner of the May 18 federal election should do to fix superannuation, and the retirement incomes system more broadly.

A conversation with Grattan CEO, John Daley. Many have interpreted the Coalition’s surprise victory in the 2019 federal election as signalling the end of substantial policy reform in Australia. But in this podcast conversation, Grattan's CEO shows that policy inaction is not a viable option, and he identifies priority areas where Prime Minister Scott Morrison might – and should – pursue reform.

Event podcast: The 2019 election has been branded the ‘generational election’. Beyond the hyperbole about an ‘age war’, there are serious questions about the economic future of today’s young Australians. In this Policy Pitch event the panel debated the contentious issue of intergenerational inequality, and identified what if anything we should do about it.

Event podcast: In this Policy Pitch event at State Library Victoria, Grattan Institute’s tax, energy, health, housing, retirement incomes, and transport & cities experts considered the issues in their field and nominate the choices that would really make a difference to Australia’s future. The discussion drew on Grattan’s Commonwealth Orange Book 2019, which identifies policy priorities for the next government.

A comprehensive conversation with the contributors to the Grattan Commonwealth Orange Book 2019 breaking down the key policy priorities for the next federal government. Drawing on 10 years of Grattan research and reports, the Orange Book recommends that Australia's next federal government should defy the national mood of reform fatigue and stare down vested interests to pursue a targeted agenda to improve the lives of Australians. Read the report - https://grattan.edu.au/report/commonwealth-orange-book-2019/ A time guide to this podcast: – 1:30 John Daley and Brendan Coates – The Orange Book policy priorities – 16:50 John Daley – Economic Development – 25:40 Brendan Coates – Housing – 32:40 Marion Terrill – Cities and transport – 41:30 Tony Wood – Energy – 55:10 Stephen Duckett – Health  – 1:05:30 Peter Goss – School education – 1:16:20 Andrew Norton – Higher Education – 1:21:00 Danielle Wood – Budget policy – 1:26:50 Danielle Wood – Institutional reform – 1:32:50 John Daley and Brendan Coates – Final thoughts

A conversation with Danielle Wood, Budget Policy Program Director. The 2019 budget was delivered on the cusp of the federal election. So, even more than normal, this budget is a political as well as economic document. Danielle Wood unpacks what the budget might mean for Australia and Australians over the next three years and beyond.

Event podcast: In this Forward Thinking event, the panel discussed: what teaching expertise looks like; how access to expert teachers could help every teacher improve their practice; what support expert teachers themselves need; and the benefits and risks of embedding expertise into teacher career paths.