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Sydney the most expensive capital in Australia, Perth comes in fifth: new report
People have been spending more in New South Wales in recent years, followed by Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia, according to a new report. And while real household spending has climbed by 14% in NSW between 2009-10 and... Read article
People have been spending more in New South Wales in recent years, followed by Victoria, South Australia, Queensland and Western Australia, according to a new report. And while real household spending has climbed by 14% in NSW between 2009-10 and... Read article
It’s too soon to celebrate a narrowing gender wage gap
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University The gender pay gap is trending downward. It has fallen from 24.7% to 22.4% in the past four years, in terms of total remuneration, according to the latest gender equality scorecard. But it’s not time to... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University The gender pay gap is trending downward. It has fallen from 24.7% to 22.4% in the past four years, in terms of total remuneration, according to the latest gender equality scorecard. But it’s not time to... Read article
We can use AFL to boost school attendance and improve mental health in Indigenous communities
Michael Dockery, Curtin University Indigenous boys living in remote Australian communities have a 20% lower truancy rate if they play AFL. This is one of the findings from our latest study exploring the benefits of Indigenous people’s participation in Australian... Read article
Michael Dockery, Curtin University Indigenous boys living in remote Australian communities have a 20% lower truancy rate if they play AFL. This is one of the findings from our latest study exploring the benefits of Indigenous people’s participation in Australian... Read article
How governments have widened the gap between generations in home ownership
Various government policies have fuelled the demand for housing over time, expanding the wealth of older home owners and pushing it further and further beyond the reach of young would-be home buyers. A new study highlights this divide between millennials... Read article
Various government policies have fuelled the demand for housing over time, expanding the wealth of older home owners and pushing it further and further beyond the reach of young would-be home buyers. A new study highlights this divide between millennials... Read article
WA bathes in sunshine but the poorest households lack solar panels – that needs to change
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University; Alan Duncan, Curtin University, and Yashar Tarverdi, Curtin University Many Western Australian householders are living in “energy poverty”, according to our new Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre research report, Power to the People: WA’s Energy Future. Although... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University; Alan Duncan, Curtin University, and Yashar Tarverdi, Curtin University Many Western Australian householders are living in “energy poverty”, according to our new Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre research report, Power to the People: WA’s Energy Future. Although... Read article
New research shows there is still a long way to go in providing equality in education
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University; Alan Duncan, Curtin University, and Michael Dockery, Curtin University When we think of a “good society” – one that is fair and just – a defining characteristic is likely to be that all people have the... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University; Alan Duncan, Curtin University, and Michael Dockery, Curtin University When we think of a “good society” – one that is fair and just – a defining characteristic is likely to be that all people have the... Read article
Australians are working longer so they can pay off their mortgage debt
Rising mortgage debt is affecting everything from employment to spending, as Australians approach retirement, our study finds. Higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer. We found for a home owner aged 45-64 years,... Read article
Rising mortgage debt is affecting everything from employment to spending, as Australians approach retirement, our study finds. Higher levels of housing debt among pre-retirees are linked to them working for longer. We found for a home owner aged 45-64 years,... Read article
Women rely on the family home to support them in old age
Thanks in part to the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap more than doubled between 2002 and 2014. But our research shows Australian women don’t just trail men in total wealth, they also have less diverse asset portfolios. Women... Read article
Thanks in part to the gender pay gap, the gender wealth gap more than doubled between 2002 and 2014. But our research shows Australian women don’t just trail men in total wealth, they also have less diverse asset portfolios. Women... Read article
FactCheck: will 700,000 workers be ‘ripped off’ by penalty rate cuts, as Bill Shorten said?
Author Joshua Healy, University of Melbourne Reviewer Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts to penalty rates will rip off 700,000 workers… – Labor leader Bill Shorten, in a Labor-produced recorded phone call to voters released in March 2017. The... Read article
Author Joshua Healy, University of Melbourne Reviewer Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Malcolm Turnbull’s cuts to penalty rates will rip off 700,000 workers… – Labor leader Bill Shorten, in a Labor-produced recorded phone call to voters released in March 2017. The... Read article
Get used to your commute: data confirms houses near jobs are too expensive
Australia’s capital cities are getting more and more units, that are largely concentrated and come with a hefty price tag, a new report shows. And while these areas also have lots of jobs, the high price for houses means many... Read article
Australia’s capital cities are getting more and more units, that are largely concentrated and come with a hefty price tag, a new report shows. And while these areas also have lots of jobs, the high price for houses means many... Read article
Budget needs a sharper policy scalpel to help first home buyers
In its 2017 budget, the federal government repeatedly stated its preference for a “scalpel” rather than a “chainsaw” or “sledgehammer” approach to demand management in the housing market. The number of housing measures in the budget are more wide-ranging than... Read article
In its 2017 budget, the federal government repeatedly stated its preference for a “scalpel” rather than a “chainsaw” or “sledgehammer” approach to demand management in the housing market. The number of housing measures in the budget are more wide-ranging than... Read article
Government spending explained in 10 charts; from Howard to Turnbull
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Successive Australian governments are usually judged on how they balance the budget and spend taxpayers’ dollars. The stereotypes are that Liberal governments keep a tight hold on the purse strings, while... Read article
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University Successive Australian governments are usually judged on how they balance the budget and spend taxpayers’ dollars. The stereotypes are that Liberal governments keep a tight hold on the purse strings, while... Read article
Governments are trapped in a vicious cycle of housing policies and prices
Whether house prices have been inflated by limited supply, or because of transfers to investors and homeowners, government policy is now trapped in a vicious cycle. The wealth accumulated in our houses has become a central part of the retirement... Read article
Whether house prices have been inflated by limited supply, or because of transfers to investors and homeowners, government policy is now trapped in a vicious cycle. The wealth accumulated in our houses has become a central part of the retirement... Read article
Not everyone wins from the bank of mum and dad
The “bank of mum and dad” is helping young Australians with more than just their housing aspirations. New analysis of data on children receiving an inheritance or cash payment from their parents has found they are more likely to be... Read article
The “bank of mum and dad” is helping young Australians with more than just their housing aspirations. New analysis of data on children receiving an inheritance or cash payment from their parents has found they are more likely to be... Read article
FactCheck: does Western Australia have the highest unemployment in the country?
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University It is true the Liberals and Nationals have … created the highest unemployment in the country in Western Australia, higher than Tasmania, higher than South Australia… – West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan, interviewed on Radio... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University It is true the Liberals and Nationals have … created the highest unemployment in the country in Western Australia, higher than Tasmania, higher than South Australia… – West Australian Labor leader Mark McGowan, interviewed on Radio... Read article
Politics podcast: WA election – Mark McGowan accuses Turnbull of bluffing
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra The end of the mining boom has hit many people in Western Australia hard, and this has flowed strongly into the election. Debt and deficit are besetting the state budget. In this final podcast from... Read article
Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra The end of the mining boom has hit many people in Western Australia hard, and this has flowed strongly into the election. Debt and deficit are besetting the state budget. In this final podcast from... Read article
FactCheck: Has the job market got so bad that ‘people have stopped looking for work’?
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University No wonder, when you have a participation rate that’s in free fall. Last month there was a fall by 0.2%, another 0.2%, it is now at 64.5%. What that indicates is that people have stopped looking... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University No wonder, when you have a participation rate that’s in free fall. Last month there was a fall by 0.2%, another 0.2%, it is now at 64.5%. What that indicates is that people have stopped looking... Read article
Western Australia’s economic future remains uncertain after the mining boom: study
The mining industry will still be important to WA’s economy in the future and new growth is unlikely to come from other industries like tourism and agriculture, new research has found. A growing, and ageing, population is likely to drive... Read article
The mining industry will still be important to WA’s economy in the future and new growth is unlikely to come from other industries like tourism and agriculture, new research has found. A growing, and ageing, population is likely to drive... Read article
Can the private rental sector provide a secure, affordable housing solution?
Despite a relatively healthy supply-side picture for the general housing market, the expected trickle down of housing opportunities to low-income households in Australia has failed to materialise. The UK Department for Communities and Local Government boasted this year of a... Read article
Despite a relatively healthy supply-side picture for the general housing market, the expected trickle down of housing opportunities to low-income households in Australia has failed to materialise. The UK Department for Communities and Local Government boasted this year of a... Read article
Will the real gender pay gap please stand up?
Whenever the gender pay gap is mentioned there are always those who argue it doesn’t exist, either because of differences in the way men and women work, choices women make or legislation prohibiting it. Whatever the reason, this confused rhetoric... Read article
Whenever the gender pay gap is mentioned there are always those who argue it doesn’t exist, either because of differences in the way men and women work, choices women make or legislation prohibiting it. Whatever the reason, this confused rhetoric... Read article
Let’s talk about the family home…and its exemption from the pension means test
Late last year a Productivity Commission report found including the family home in the means test for the age pension could deliver the government A$6 billion in much-needed revenue. Despite this, in the lead-up to the federal election, both major... Read article
Late last year a Productivity Commission report found including the family home in the means test for the age pension could deliver the government A$6 billion in much-needed revenue. Despite this, in the lead-up to the federal election, both major... Read article
Election FactCheck: Have 300,000 new jobs been created in the last calendar year and were almost two-thirds held by women?
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University and Alan Duncan, Curtin University In the last calendar year, 300,000 new jobs were created; almost two-thirds of these were women. – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking to the Menzies Research Centre, June 10, 2016. As... Read article
Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University and Alan Duncan, Curtin University In the last calendar year, 300,000 new jobs were created; almost two-thirds of these were women. – Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, speaking to the Menzies Research Centre, June 10, 2016. As... Read article
What’s the key to home ownership for Gen Y?
Over the last 25 years, home ownership rates have fallen sharply for young Australians. Between 1982 and 2011, the home ownership rate for young adults aged 25 to 34 years dropped from 56% to 34%. Growing concerns about their home... Read article
Over the last 25 years, home ownership rates have fallen sharply for young Australians. Between 1982 and 2011, the home ownership rate for young adults aged 25 to 34 years dropped from 56% to 34%. Growing concerns about their home... Read article
Election FactCheck: have 500,000 full-time jobs been lost this year and are over a million people underemployed?
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University On their watch… 50,000 full-time jobs have been lost this year alone. Over one million Australians are underemployed. – Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, speech to Queensland Labor Business Breakfast, June 8,... Read article
Alan Duncan, Curtin University and Rebecca Cassells, Curtin University On their watch… 50,000 full-time jobs have been lost this year alone. Over one million Australians are underemployed. – Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, speech to Queensland Labor Business Breakfast, June 8,... Read article
The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre team acknowledges the Wadjuk Nyungar people as the traditional owners of the land on which the Centre is situated.