Grattan Institute

By September this year, there have been about 2000 COVID cases and 500 deaths in residential aged care, which accounts for 70% of Australia's COVID death toll. At the same time, we are faced with the horror stories of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, that include a lack of dignity, neglect, abuse, and the inappropriate use of chemical and physical restraints. And yet, there...

In early September, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the reform of the energy system to aid Australia’s economic recovery from COVID-19. Much of this announcement focussed on gas as they key to stimulating manufacturing and investment in Australia. But is this really the case, and could Australia be missing an opportunity to move to more renewable energy sources? Two of Grattan's energy exp...

Faced with the hard task of economic recovery from COVID-19, governments need to prioritise policy changes that makes a difference, while minimising the political cost. But Australian policy has stagnated under the lack of prioritisation. The failure to prioritise has been labelled as one reason for the failings of the Rudd Government, the Abbott Government, and the Shorten Opposition. In today’s...

A big part of the Morrison Government’s response to COVID-19 has been allowing people early access to their superannuation. At the same time, compulsory super contributions are legislated to climb from 9.5 per cent of wages to 12 per cent over the next five years. We’ve all been told we need to put more money into super, so letting people have access to their superannuation early sounds like a bad...

COVID-19 is the biggest issue of our age, and one of the biggest questions is how can we best fight coronavirus? Can we realistically get to zero active cases in Australia? Or should we just let it rip? On today's podcast, Stephen Duckett discusses his new report "Go for zero: how Australia can get to zero COVID-19 cases", the Victorian roadmap to COVID Normal, and how other states can do the same...

One of the biggest challenges facing our largest cities before the pandemic, and one we will eventually have to face again, is congestion on our roads. With so many people either out of work or working from home, now might seem like a strange time to be thinking about tackling congestion in our cities. But, there are many reasons why it might also be the best time. Kat Clay is joined by Senior Ass...

Increasing female workforce participation is one of the biggest long-term economic opportunities for governments. Australia’s female workforce participation rate is above the OECD average, but Australian women are much more likely to work part-time than their overseas counterparts. Before COVID-19, a typical Australian woman with pre-teenage children worked 2.5 days per week. Is this what women wa...

Childcare should be made cheaper to enable more women to do more paid work, and to help lift the economy out of the COVID recession. Find out how Australian governments can enable mothers to do more paid work (and how to manage being a CEO with a toddler at home) on this week’s Grattan podcast with CEO Danielle Wood, Fellow Kate Griffiths, and Senior Associate Owain Emslie. Read the report in disc...

Should Australia dump the decades-old dream of building a bullet train from Brisbane to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra? The east-coast bullet train advocated by the federal ALP could be an expensive folly: Australia’s small population and vast distances present major economic and environmental risks. How realistic is the notion that upgrades to regional rail would ease population pressures on o...

The second part of our two-part special podcast on Grattan's past and future. This week John Daley, our CEO of eleven years, interviews our new CEO, Danielle Wood, on the future of Grattan, the importance of public trust in institutions, and her optimism in the potential for policy change in Australia.

As we farewell Grattan's CEO of eleven years, John Daley, and welcome our new CEO, Danielle Wood, we present the first part of a special two-part podcast series, looking at where Grattan has come from, and where Grattan will go. This week, Danielle Wood interviews John Daley on his achievements and the origins of the Grattan Institute. Next week, John will interview Danielle on where she sees the...

Australia continues to debate whether achieving very low or net zero emissions will cost jobs or open a new era for the country as an energy superpower. In this Grattan Institute/State Library of Queensland Webinar, a panel of experts explored the opportunities and barriers Australia will face in a low-emissions world. Speakers: - Anna Skarbek, CEO of ClimateWorks Australia - Professor Ross Garnau...

COVID-19 is the biggest social and economic shock since World War II. Within two months, policies and systems for welfare, employment, childcare, health, and education have been turned on their head after decades of (at most) incremental reform. Recovering from such a shock is a big task that will stretch government resources. Other less urgent (but important) reforms will have to wait until there...

Teachers and students responded quickly and well to remote learning when the COVID-19 crisis forced the closure of schools. But new research suggests most students learnt less at home than they would have in the classroom – and that disadvantaged students fell further behind. In this special Webinar, experts from the UK, the US, and Australia discussed their latest findings and identified the exte...

After COVID-19, Australia’s health system looks nothing like the health system of six months ago. All aspects of the system – primary care, mental health, and alcohol and other drug services – have embraced new ways of working because of spatial distancing. Health professionals took on new roles, services pivoted from waiting for people to make appointments to reaching out to patients, and many fa...

Australia should launch a $1 billion, six-month tutoring blitz to help 1 million disadvantaged school students recover learning lost during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Governments should send a battalion of 100,000 tutors into schools between now and Christmas to conduct intensive small-group sessions on reading and maths. Many disadvantaged students – those from the poorest 25 per cent of families an...

Australia should dump the decades-old dream of building a bullet train from Brisbane to Melbourne via Sydney and Canberra, and we should be wary of expensive promises to upgrade regional rail to ease population pressures on our major capitals and boost struggling regional cities and towns. Listen to Greg Moran, Senior Associate, and Tom Crowley, Associate, discuss the latest Grattan Report, Fast t...

There's no doubt that COVID-19 has changed our lives forever. After two months of hibernation in Australia, states are slowly beginning to loosen restrictions. We've heard the term the 'new normal' over and over again. But what does the new normal look like? In this Grattan Institute podcast, Dr Hal Swerissen, Visiting Fellow, discusses what life looks like after lockdown with Kat Clay, Head of Di...

Investing in ‘green’ steel could create 25,000 local manufacturing jobs, a multi-billion-dollar industry and cut emissions in Australia. It’s a win-win-win. Listen to Tony Wood, Energy Program Director, Guy Dundas, Fellow, and Paul Austin, Editor, discuss Grattan Institute’s latest report, Start with steel: A practical plan to support carbon workers and cut emissions. To read the report in discuss...

Australia has done better than most countries in limiting the spread of COVID-19. The health crisis is not over, but attention is now turning to the ‘road out’ of the economic shutdown. There are lots of uncertainties. What are the costs of relaxing too late – or too early? Should schools be reopened, and under what conditions? What parts of the economy should be taken out of lockdown, in what ord...

Between 14 and 26 per cent of Australian workers could be out of work as a direct result of the coronavirus shutdown, and the crisis will have an enduring impact on jobs and the economy for years to come. Listen to Brendan Coates, Grattan's Household Finances Program Director, in discussion with Matt Cowgill, Senior Associate, and Paul Austin, Editor, about the impact of the COVID-19 shutdown and...

The COVID-19 crisis is having an impact on every aspect of our lives: our health and wellbeing, our jobs and recreations, our personal finances and relationships, our children’s education and prospects. Governments have rarely been under such stress as they seek to balance protecting public health with ensuring economic survival. How can we recover from the loss of lives, livelihoods, and our very...

Will our children be able to cope during this stressful time? Will they be able to learn if they are forced to do online schooling for weeks, months, or even the rest of the year? Listen to informed analysis and advice from our Education Fellow, Julie Sonnemann. With host Paul Austin. To read the article discussed in the podcast, visit our website: https://grattan.edu.au/news/disadvantaged-student...

Coronavirus is the biggest crisis of our generation. Australians are fearful. The elderly are vulnerable. People are dying. Recession is almost certain. Businesses and borders are closing. Governments must balance protecting public health with ensuring economic survival. How can they minimise the impacts of COVID-19 on Australia? And how do we protect the most vulnerable in our community? In this...

Australia’s 1950s-style, GP-centric primary care model is not fit to respond to the increased prevalence of chronic disease — and now we know it’s not fit to respond to an infectious disease pandemic either. Stephen Duckett, Health Program Director, discusses how the coronavirus crisis is highlighting the cracks in the healthcare system, and what we can learn from the NHS response to the pandemic....