Outsourcing—For and Against
[PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 18 2000–01
Rose Verspaandonk, Politics and Public Administration Group
26 June 2001
Over the last decade there has been a substantial shift in the
Commonwealth Government's approach to service provision. Whether a
service is provided by government or to
government, there is an increasing likelihood that a non-government
organisation will play a role. This Paper provides an introduction
to the major arguments that are used to support and criticise
outsourcing. It covers issues such as efficiency, quality,
accountability, industry development, corruption and more. (31
pages)
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Official Economic Forecasts—How Good are
They? [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 17 2000–01
David Richardson, Economics, Commerce and Industrial Relations
Group
26 June 2001
Official economic forecasts have come in for some criticism
recently. This Paper examines the forecasting record in the Budget
Papers since 1978. Economic growth tends to be underestimated on
average. In addition the average forecast error is only slightly
better than a forecaster would achieve using simple rules of thumb.
The record for unemployment and inflation forecasts is also
examined.(11 pages)
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Cholesterol Levels: Regaining
Control [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 16 2000–01
Dr Rod Panter, Science, Technology, Environment and Resources
Group
5 June 2001
The 2001–2002 Budget includes a provision for saving
$103.9 million over the next four years on cholesterol-lowering
drugs. This paper discusses options for government actions of a
preventive nature in order to control blood cholesterol levels in
the community while lessening dependence on drugs. Suggestions
include updating dietary advice, establishing an official
government body to advise on dietary matters, and extending
nutrition labelling to food service outlets. (10 pages)
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Queensland Election 2001 [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 15 2000–01
Scott Bennett, Politics and Public Administration Group and Gerard
Newman, Statistics Group
3 April 2001
The 2001 Western Australian and Queensland elections helped turn
a time of apparent electoral calm into one of electoral volatility.
In the West, Labor gained its largest haul of seats since the
election of 1911, snatching office in a fashion that few
commentators had believed likely. One week later, Queensland voters
increased Labor's Legislative Assembly numbers to a level that
equalled the party's best-ever result in that State. Even though
Labor was thus handed two handsome victories, these elections
continued the decline in support for major parties in Australia.
These two elections, together with the by-election for the
Commonwealth electorate of Ryan, have left parties and observers
wondering what this might presage for the coming Commonwealth
election. This CIB analyses Queensland, and comments upon Ryan. (30
pages)
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Western Australian Election 2001: Statistical
Analysis [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 14 2000–01
Gerard Newman, Statistics Group
3 April 2001
This paper provides a statistical analysis of the recent Western
Australian election. It is a companion paper to the recently
published descriptive account of the election (Current Issues Brief No. 10
2000–01). (29 pages)
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Socioeconomic Indexes for Electoral Divisions (2000
Electoral Boundaries) [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 13 2000–01
Gerard Newman and Andrew Kopras, Statistics Group
3 April 2001
This paper ranks each Commonwealth Electoral Division on the
basis of four summary indexes derived from the 1996 Census of
Population and Housing. The paper updates a previous paper
(Current Issues Brief
No. 4 1998–99) for boundary
changes resulting from the 1999–2000 redistributions in NSW,
SA, WA, Tas and the NT. (19 pages)
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House
of Representatives By-elections 1949–2001
[PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 12 2000–01
Gerard Newman, Statistics Group
3 April 2001
The Australian Labor Party won the Ryan by-election with a two
party preferred swing of 9.7 per cent. This compares with the
average swing against the government of the day of 4.0 per cent in
all by-elections since 1949. This paper provides details of all
House of Representatives by-elections held since 1949. (27
pages)
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Medication for Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity
Disorder (ADHD): an Analysis by Federal
Electorate [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 11 2000–01
Paul Mackey, Social Policy Group and Andrew Kopras, Statistics
Group
3 April 2001
This paper presents and analyses data on the number of
prescriptions dispensed under the Commonwealth-funded
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for dexamphetamine sulfate, a drug
used to treat ADHD. Considerable differences are evident both
between jurisdictions and between electorates. Analysis in the
paper of a range of socioeconomic variables reveals that none,
either singly or in combination, can consistently explain why such
differences exist. The paper concludes that Australia has some way
to go before achieving best practice in the prescribing of
medication to treat ADHD. (23 pages)
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Western Australian Election 2001
[PDF
format] Current Issues Brief
No. 10 2000–01
Glenn Worthington, Politics and Public Administration Group
6 March 2001
One of the most notable features of the Western Australian
election was the strong performance of minor party and independent
candidates. This Current Issues Brief gives an account of the
impact of minor parties and independents on the electoral landscape
as well as major party policy. It examines whether the WA election
has implications for the upcoming Federal election. (20
pages)
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US
Presidential Election 2000 [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 9 2000–01
Scott Bennett, Politics and Public Administration Group
27 February 2001
The 2000 US Presidential election was one of the closest and
most exciting on record, featuring exhaustive cross-country
campaigning by the major party candidates, spoiling activity by a
significant third party, a nail-biting count that brought into
question the basic electoral arrangements, and the battles and
confusion over the count in the fourth largest state of Florida.
This Current Issues Brief gives a brief overview of these
remarkable events, touching on the candidates, the campaigns, the
controversy in Florida and the final result. It concludes that,
although the political system survived the excitement with little
difficulty, it is highly likely that many changes to the electoral
arrangements will have been made by Presidential election 2004. (44
pages)
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The
Detention of Boat People [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 8 2000–01
Adrienne Millbank, Social Policy Group
27 February 2001
Australia's policy of mandatory detention for 'unauthorised
arrivals', and its administration, have become the focus of media
scrutiny and parliamentary debate. This CIB describes the
development of detention policy and practice in Australia, and
compares detention policies and practices in the US, Canada, Sweden
and the UK. It describes key differences in the immigration
situations and cultures of these countries which might need to be
kept in mind in any consideration of overseas models. (18
pages)
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The
United States 2000 Elections: Implications for the
Asia-Pacific [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 7 2000–01
Dr Frank Frost and Bruce Donald, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade
Group
5 December 2000
The 2000 US elections on 7 November have resulted in a contested
result for the Presidency and a Congress finely balanced between
both major parties. The paper provides a concise overview of key
political and economic issues and implications for the Asia-Pacific
region and for Australia. (17 pages)
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Middle
East Crisis: Losing Control? [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 6 2000–01
Michael Ong, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Group
5 December 2000
This paper provides the background to the conflict. This is in
part historical, in part religious and in part a product of
inter-play of domestic politics. It also notes several changes in
the landscape of conflict and questions whether the leaders may be
losing control or may be able to overcome their own extremist
supporters to achieve the elusive peace settlement. (18
pages)
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Dual
Citizenship in Australia [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 5 2000–01
Adrienne Millbank, Social Policy Group
28 November 2000
The Government is currently considering a recommendation of the
Australian Citizenship Council to repeal section 17 of the
Australian Citizenship Act (1948), thereby in effect
officially endorsing dual citizenship in Australia. (Section 17
requires Australian citizens travelling abroad who take out the
citizenship of another country to relinquish their Australian
citizenship.)
This paper sets out the arguments in favour of dual citizenship
in Australia at the beginning of the new millennium, and looks at
how arguments for and against dual citizenship in Australia have
changed in their weight and focus over time. (14 Pages)
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Living
Standards [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 4 2000–01
Tony Kryger, Statistics Group
3 October 2000
This Current Issues Brief looks at a range of economic and
social indicators designed to assess changes in Australia's
standard of living over the past twenty years. With individual
indicators showing contrary movements the overall assessment
depends on the relative importance attached to each indicator. (8
pages)
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1999-2000 Redistribution of Federal Electoral
Boundaries [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 3 2000–01
Gerard Newman and Andrew Kopras, Statistics Group
5 September 2000
Redistributions of Commonwealth electoral boundaries in New
South Wales, South Australia, Western Australia, Tasmania and the
Northern Territory have now been completed. This Current Issues
Brief provides an outline of the redistribution process and
analyses the electoral consequences of the redistributions. The
prospects of future redistributions are also discussed.
(23 pages)
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The
Government's Defence Policy Discussion Paper: Issues and
Directions [PDF
format]
Current Issues Brief No. 2 2000–01
Derek Woolner, Gary Klintworth and Gary Brown, Foreign Affairs,
Defence and Trade Group
15 August 2000
The future of Australian defence policy is being considered in a
public consultation process which will continue until early
September. This paper discusses the relevance of Australia's
strategic situation being far better than is generally conceded,
outlines the constraints on significant changes of policy,
estimates the extent of increases in the Budget that might be
necessary and indicates the developments that have the power to
really change the Australian Defence Force. (50 pages)
Aspects of this paper build on the findings of an earlier paper,
Pressures on Defence Policy: The Defence Budget Crisis,
Research Paper
No. 20 1999–2000.
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Is
West Papua Another Timor? [PDF format]
Current Issues Brief No. 1 2000–01
Dr June Verrier, Head, Information and Research Services
27 July 2000
This paper explains how West Papua differs from East Timor as an
issue for both Indonesian and Australian policy makers. It explores
a little known part of Australian involvement with the history of
West New Guinea and suggests that the legacy includes both
responsibilities—and risks—as its seeks to rebuild its
relationship with Indonesia. (20 pages)
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