Grattan Institute

Skilled migrants contribute greatly to Australia's prosperity, shaping our diverse society, making us more productive, and boosting Australians' earnings and government's budgets. Points-tested visas account for almost two thirds of all permanent skilled visas issued by Australia over the past decade.  These visas allocate points to potential migrants based on characteristics such as  their age, proficiency in English, education and work experience.  Following current trends, 800, 000 people will be granted permanent residency through points-tested visas over the next decade.  But points-tested visas aren't working as well as they should. In this podcast, Brendan Coates, Trent Wiltshire, and Natasha Bradshaw discuss their new report, It all adds up: Reforming points-tested visas. They explain how reforming the points test and abolishing state and regional points-tested visa programs could yield big economic benefits for Australia.

What's Grattan's verdict on Budget 2024? CEO Aruna Sathanapally and a panel of Grattan experts, including Dr. Sam Bennett, Alison Reeve, and Brendan Coates, critically assess Australia's 2024 federal Budget. Has the government got the balance right in supporting people who are doing it tough, without exacerbating inflation? Does the Budget do enough to help fix the broken housing market and tackle Australia’s structural budget deficit? And will the government’s ‘Future Made in Australia’ investments help or hinder our transition to net-zero emissions? Find out what the Budget means for you and the nation in this special podcast.

Australia: it's time for a sugary drinks tax. Sugary drinks are the biggest single source of sugar in our diets, and they increase people’s risk of developing obesity and type 2 diabetes. While Australian health experts have been calling for a tax on sugary drinks for many years, our new report Sickly sweet: It's time for a sugary drinks tax, outlines why now and why Australia is lagging behind our international peers. In this podcast, report authors Peter Breadon and Jessica Geraghty discuss how a sugary drinks tax can improve Australians’ health, with host Kat Clay. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/sickly-sweet/ Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate/

Most Australians don't spend much time thinking about the electricity system, as long as the lights turn on. But the National Energy Market (NEM) is going through big changes as it moves away from coal generation towards renewables. And Australia’s future prosperity depends on governments getting this transformation right. On this podcast, Grattan energy experts Tony Wood, Alison Reeve, and Richard Yan, discuss their latest report, Keeping the lights on: How Australia should navigate the era of coal closures and prepare for what comes next. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/keeping-the-lights-on/

The future of the NDIS – Australia’s world-leading scheme to support people with disability – is in doubt because the costs are exploding. Now the federal government is acting. The Getting the NDIS Back on Track Bill proposes a massive overhaul of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, in order to rein in costs and provide greater clarity on program delivery. While the bill has been pitched as an improvement to access, program sustainability, and protections from unethical practices, many people with disabilities are concerned about whether their support will be continued, and if they are still eligible for the program. Disability Program experts Sam Bennett and Hannah Orban are joined by host Kat Clay, to discuss how the proposed changes will affect the NDIS. More information on the Bill from the NDIS: https://www.ndis.gov.au/news/9975-getting-ndis-back-track Sam Bennett and Hannah Orban assess the Bill: https://grattan.edu.au/news/battle-to-save-the-ndis-has-begun/ Full transcript of the podcast: https://grattan.edu.au/news/will-this-bill-get-the-ndis-back-on-track/

The Australian Energy Market Operator has published its annual Gas Statement of Opportunities report. The report forecasts difficult times ahead for Australia’s east coast gas market, with a risk of shortfalls on peak demand days in 2025 and seasonal supply gaps from 2026. So, is Australia running out of gas? At the household level, people are concerned about keeping the heater going and the cooktop on. In the bigger picture, governments and industry are grappling with a complex change from fossil fuels to renewable energy. In this new Grattan Podcast, host Kat Clay talks to our energy expert Alison Reeve about whether Australia can expect gas shortfalls in the future, and where the responsibility lies for avoiding – or at least managing – these potential outages. Read the reports mentioned in the podcast: AEMO's Gas Statement of Opportunities report https://buff.ly/4cyw9bB Getting off Gas Grattan report: https://buff.ly/3NdV7RI

School principals can make a big impact. A highly effective principal can raise student achievement by up to seven months a year for a typical student, and even more for a disadvantaged student. But running a school well is a difficult job-just ask any principal. Schools are complex organisations. The average secondary school principal manages a budget of more than $15 million, which is more than the turnover of 98 per cent of Australian businesses. And Australia expects each one of its schools to provide an excellent education for every child. But governments have radically underestimated how hard this is for schools to achieve. The result is that schools often feel poorly supported in their work. Our latest education report, Spreading success: Why Australia should trial multi-school organisations, delves into the question of how we best support schools to improve. This podcast discusses the new report with authors Jordana Hunter, Amy Haywood, and Nick Parkinson. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/spreading-success-why-australia-should-trial-multi-school-organisations/

The release of Australian gender pay gap data by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency has highlighted the big discrepancies in women's salaries, the absence of women in traditionally male dominated industries, and the lack of women in senior management of many major businesses. But while the release of this data has sparked a national discussion on why women are often paid less, there's more nuance to this story than what first appears. Equity expert Natasha Bradshaw breaks down what the gender pay gap data shows, and what we can expect next in light of these revelations. Hosted by Kat Clay. Helpful links WGEA Data Explorer https://t.co/IKTGpk7mEE WGEA Gender Pay Gaps Snapshot https://buff.ly/3TkuYEQ WGEA interactive: https://buff.ly/49YnWuW The publication of the gender pay gap is coming. Here's what you need to know - Article by Natasha Bradshaw https://buff.ly/49ZFDKT

Explore the impact of rising rents on renters, evolving renter demographics, and political implications. Address challenges faced by renters, advocate for increased rental assistance, and debate rent regulation. Dive into the impact of capital gains discount and negative gearing reform on renters and government revenues.

Australia has a reading problem. A third of children can't read proficiently. In the typical Australian school classroom of 24 students, eight can't read well. This has huge flow on effects for their success in life and costs Australia billions of dollars. And the worst thing is, it's preventable. In this podcast, report authors Jordana Hunter and Anika Stobart discuss The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance for success, and offer a new plan of how to reform reading education in Australia. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/reading-guarantee/ Transcript available on our website: https://grattan.edu.au/news/why-australia-needs-a-reading-guarantee/