Grattan Institute

Our governments know a lot about us. They hold data on how much we earn, how much tax we pay, our health records, business earnings, even whether we have a fishing license. As we saw during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic, data on the spread of the virus and the pace of the vaccine rollout was vital for keeping us safe and holding our governments to account. Government data is also essential for informed public policy debates, and it’s invaluable for researchers and others who advocate for better public policy. But a lot of government data in Australia is locked up behind closed doors. And when governments do make data available, it is often published in ways that are difficult to understand and unwieldy for researchers to use. In this special Grattan Podcast, Grattan data specialist Tyler Reysenbach is joined by Adam Sparks, a Senior Research Scientist with Western Australia's Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, and Matt Cowgill, Senior Economist at SEEK, to talk about how our governments could get better at data, and how things could be improved in ways that would improve public policy and, ultimately, the lives of all Australians.

Discussion on the housing accord and National Cabinet's plan to address the housing crisis in Australia. The need for a better deal for renters and improved security of tenure. Proposing land tax reform to increase access to affordable housing. Focus on building more homes and challenges in increasing housing supply.

Grattan Institute CEO Danielle Wood delivered the annual Giblin Lecture in Hobart last week. A partnership between the University of Tasmania and the Tasmanian branch of the Economic Society of Australia, the lecture is named for the eminent Australian economist, Lyndhurst Falkiner Giblin. Danielle used the occasion to issue this plea: “Let’s drop the petty generational warfare, and work together to ensure that the Australia we leave to our children is better than the one we inherited.” And she set herself this tough task: “I want to explore the issues that young people tell us are keeping them up at night, and let them know why this has happened but also what we might as a nation do about it.” In this special edition of the Grattan Podcast, we present a recording of Danielle delivering the lecture, complete with slides.

The 2023 NAPLAN school test results released this week show that 1 in 3 Australian students are not on track with their learning. The results also reveal deep inequities in Australian schools, with more than half of disadvantaged students performing below expectations. In this special Grattan Podcast, our NAPLAN specialists Anika Stobart and Nick Parkinson discuss why Australia is performing so poorly, and what governments should do to turn this around so all students have the literacy and numeracy skills they need to have their best chance in life.

Victoria's per-kilometre charge on electric vehicles is causing controversy and is being challenged in the High Court. The podcast discusses the impact of the charge on revenue, electric vehicle adoption, and road-user charging. It also explores the current state of electric vehicles in Australia and debunks the belief that the government is hindering EV adoption. Fairer per-kilometre charges for EVs are proposed.

Grattan Institute’s work on housing policy keeps coming back to one basic idea: Australia needs more housing in the areas where people want to live and work. So why hasn’t Australia built enough homes to keep prices under control? Because of the land-use planning regulations that dictate what gets built where. Those planning regulations have a status-quo bias. They give too much say to people who oppose development or change – the so-called ‘NIMBYs’, or ‘Not-in-my-backyard’. Enter the ‘YIMBY’ movement: enthusiastic young people who say ‘Yes-in-my-backyard’. In this special Grattan podcast on Australia’s housing crisis, our Senior Associate, Joey Moloney, and guests Jono O’Brien and Melissa Neighbour from the YIMBY movement discuss this grass-roots movement that aims to revolutionise the housing debate and make it easier for young Australians to get a roof over their heads.

Early education and care are hugely important. It’s where children are first exposed to the education system, in a period that’s crucial for their brain development. It's also important for the economy – particularly for supporting women back into the workforce. So why is it so expensive, even with government subsidies? Listen to Grattan CEO Danielle Wood, in conversation with Grattan Fellow Iris Chan, on how to make childcare cheaper.

This year, the NAPLAN report card will look very different. For the first time, parents will be told whether their child has met the new “proficient” benchmark for their level, in reading, writing, numeracy, and grammar. With four proficiency categories, all with new terminology, what does this mean for parents and teachers? Grattan Institute Associates Nick Parkinson and Dominic Jones discuss the new-look NAPLAN.

The federal government has called a 90-day snap review of the Infrastructure Investment Program. The program was originally intended to fund projects of national significance, but has since ‘drifted away’ from those lofty ambitions. But should the federal government be involved in infrastructure funding at all? Grattan Institute research has shown that federal funding of state and local infrastructure projects is often an exercise in pork-barrelling. After all, local road roundabouts and train-station carparks aren’t exactly the Sydney Opera House. In this special Grattan Podcast, our transport and cities experts Marion Terrill and Natasha Bradshaw discuss with host Kat Clay how federal infrastructure money should be best used.

The RBA has held off on raising the cash rate - for now. This comes as a sigh of relief to home owners, who have slogged through 12 rate rises since May 2022. But with warnings of further rate rises, many people are questioning whether they’re the only way to stop inflation. Listen to Trent Wiltshire, Deputy Program Director of Economic Policy, and Joey Moloney, Senior Associate, discuss how to stop inflation with host Kat Clay. For more information, visit: https://grattan.edu.au/