Feature

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and the Superannuation System Michael Dockery, Julie Owen, Anna Dwyer, Nigar Sultana, Alan Duncan, Rebecca Cassells It is remarkable how little existing literature there is on outcomes for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in retirement and old age. This is even more remarkable given that Indigenous Australians often face different challenges and life trajectories,... Read article 9 June 2020Feature Read More
2019 Women’s Report Card Rebecca Cassells, Daniel Kiely, Silvia Salazar, Richard Seymour The Department of Communities in partnership with the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre have today released the 2019 WA Women’s Report Card and Data Insights Platform. The 2019 Women’s Report Card presents fact-based information to raise awareness of the status of... Read article 23 September 2019Feature Read More
Better together: Supporting perinatal and infant mental health services Daniel Kiely, Hiram Fitzgerald, Rochelle Matacz, Lynn Priddis, Sara Bayes, Caroline Barratt-Pugh, Julie Ann Pooley The project maps how services in the cities of Wanneroo/Joondalup interact to enhance the quality of perinatal and infant mental health services for the community. Service providers were invited to work with the research team over 12 months to design,... Read article 21 August 2019Feature Read More
The social and economic sustainability of WA’s rural volunteer workforce Kirsten Holmes, Amanda Davies, Leonie A. Lockstone-Binney Volunteering is critical to the survival and success of rural communities in Western Australia (WA). The past two decades have seen an increase in the community services delivered by volunteers and demand on the volunteer workforce has intensified. Yet, according to data collected... Read article 26 February 2019Feature Read More
Enhancing niche tourism Kerry Brown, Subas Dhakal, Mirjam Wiedemann, Lisa Daniel This research builds a profile and understanding of the capacity of regions to benefit from extending their traditional industrial base to include value-added niche activities. These investigations into locally based agri-food systems and niche tourism deliver research findings to support goals to capitalise... Read article 13 February 2019Feature Read More
South West for Asia Michael Volgger, Christof Pforr, Sara Cavalcanti Marques As a critical growth market for the tourism industry in Australia’s South West (ASW), a stronger focus on emerging Asian markets has become a strategic priority for the region. The project “South West for Asia” is aligned with these broader... Read article 23 October 2018Feature Read More
The Private Rental Sector in Australia Steven Rowley, Amity James This report examines the state of the private rental sector (PRS) in Australia through analysis of 2016 census data and a survey of 3,182 Australian private renters. The survey asked renters about issues such as the number of rental properties... Read article 9 October 2018Feature Read More
Older Renters in the Western Australian Private Rental Sector Helen Hodgson, Amity James, Eileen Webb More people are reaching retirement age without owning a home, and the number of older people residing in the private rental market is increasing. Fixed incomes, short leases, a lack of affordable housing options and limited capacity to modify a... Read article 9 October 2018Feature Read More
Gas and oil prospects Julian Inchauspe, Roberto Aguilera, Daniel Packey, Kelly Burns, Stefan Trueck In the coming decades natural gas may take a lead role in providing energy to the world while mitigating climate impacts. Our optimistic view is based on the advantages of gas relative to other fossil fuels, including its abundance, wide geographical distribution and... Read article 27 September 2018Feature Read More
Power plans for electricity Tom Houghton, Chris Twomey, Mahnaz Hejazi Amin This is a mixed methods research project aimed at gaining a better understanding of the experience of energy vulnerable households under changes to electricity tariff structures. The research is a collaboration between Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre, WACOSS and Horizon Power and... Read article 27 September 2018Feature Read More
A strength-based program for adolescents with autism Matthew Jones, Marita Falkmer, Ben Milbourn, Tele Tan, Louise Sheehy, Sven Bölte, Sonya Girdler It is widely recognised that many individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) have abilities and strengths well suited to employment in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. Despite this, their overall employment rate remains marginal. Recent studies have proposed that implementing... Read article 11 September 2018Feature Read More
Are we China-ready? Jianhong (Cecilia) Xia, Rodel Adriano, Mikhail Prude Carcausto Zea, Lesley Crowe-Delaney, Yudan Liu, Kirsten Holmes, Zhirong Chen Chinese tourism to Australia has grown substantially since the start of the millennium, and this group of travellers is now the top international tourism spender. This report looks at the characteristics of Chinese visitors coming to Western Australia, their detailed... Read article 25 June 2018Feature Read More
Developing sustainable career pathways for aged care workers John Burgess, Julia Connell, Alan Nankervis, Subas Dhakal, Scott Fitzgerald Dramatic increases in the ageing population have created growing demand for personal care assistants (PCAs) across the states and territories in Australia. Available data indicates that the population aged 65 to 85 years will double in Western Australia (WA) by 2050. This demographic... Read article 30 April 2018Feature Read More
Housing affordability: Land supply and new housing in Western Australia Greg Costello, Kenneth Leong, Steven Rowley This Feature report addresses the topic of land supply, new dwelling construction and housing affordability, a major economic and social issue facing West Australian households. This report complements the BCEC Housing Affordability (2014 and 2016) reports through analysis of similar broad regional... Read article 27 March 2018Feature Read More
Inequality in later life: The superannuation effect Helen Hodgson, Alan Fenna, Ha Nguyen This BCEC Feature report examines the extent of economic inequality among Australians over 55 years of age, and seeks to identify the effect, if any, that the current superannuation system has on economic inequality in later life. The report examines inequality by reference... Read article 19 March 2018Feature Read More
The nexus between equity markets and housing prices in Australia Kelly Burns, Steven Rowley, George Tawadros, Ankita Mishra This BCEC Feature report examines the impact of equity and energy prices on house prices across Australian capital cities and regional Western Australia, over the period 2000 to 2014. Energy prices, for the purposes of this study, refers to a broad range... Read article 12 March 2018Feature Read More
Small Business Enterprise Models of Employment Errol Cocks, Stian Thoresen, Robert Jackson, Allyson Thomson Adults with disabilities are substantially disadvantaged, economically and socially. Ample national and international comparative data indicate low labour force participation rates (just over 50%) and double the unemployment rates for persons without disabilities. This report examines an emerging small business employment model that... Read article 15 February 2018Feature Read More
Minimising skills wastage Jaya Dantas, Roslyn Cameron, Farveh Farivar, Penelope Strauss Skilled migration is a key element in Australia’s strategy to address major human capital issues and imperatives. However, underutilisation of professional migrant skills remains a critical problem.  This report identifies the barriers skilled migrants face and investigates the link between workforce... Read article 21 November 2017Feature Read More
Unlocking the potential for working closer to home Carey Curtis, Courtney Babb, Sam McLeod, David Robertson Unlocking the Potential for Working Closer to Home, examines the barriers to, and opportunities for, increasing the number of people able to work closer to their home in both metropolitan Perth and regional Western Australia. It is known that working... Read article 20 November 2017BCEC Reports  |  Feature Read More
The Impact of Airbnb on WA’s Tourism Industry Christof Pforr, Michael Volgger, Kylie Coulson This BCEC Feature report looks at the rapid growth of the sharing economy, including Airbnb, in recent years and how it has challenged traditional economies in many countries around the globe. With more than 1.5 million listings in more than 190... Read article 6 October 2017Feature Read More
After the Siren Michael Dockery, Sean Gorman This BCEC Feature report aims to build on the narrative of Indigenous peoples’ participation in football at a grass-roots level, and the associated individual and community level outcomes. It is based on analyses of data from the 2014-2015 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander... Read article 14 September 2017Feature Read More
Western Australia’s International Education Sector: Performance and Prospects Alan Duncan, Daniel Kiely, Kenneth Leong, John Phillimore, Richard Seymour Australia has been a leader in international education for many years, and it is now the country’s principal services export and our third largest export industry overall. It has been identified in any government and other studies as an industry... Read article 18 November 2016Feature Read More
Community Wellbeing From the Ground Up Mandy Yap, Eunice Yu At some point in our lives, we have asked ourselves one or all of these questions. What matters most in life? What makes life worth living? What makes you happy? What makes you feel good? What makes you flourish? Wellbeing can mean many... Read article 12 August 2016BCEC Reports  |  Feature Read More
Energy Poverty in Western Australia Antonia Cornwell, Mahnaz Hejazi Amin, Tom Houghton, Therese Jefferson, Peter Newman, Steven Rowley Energy poverty is a prevalent and growing issue affecting the wellbeing of millions of households across the globe. Access to affordable energy services is frequently seen as a pre-requisite for economic growth in developing countries and has been associated with improvements to health and social mobility in more... Read article 16 June 2016BCEC Reports  |  Feature Read More
Autism in the Workplace Delia Hendrie, Marita Falkmer, Torbjorn Falkmer, Andrew Jacob, Richard Parsons, Melissa Scott Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong condition that represents a category of developmental disorders characterised by impairments in social reciprocity, communication and unusual or repetitive behaviour. In Australia there are approximately 157,000 adults with ASD within the working age population of 15 to 64 year olds. This... Read article 28 April 2016BCEC Reports  |  Feature Read More
WA Wine Exports: Building an Economic Future with China Jeremy Galbreath, Grace Gao, Louis Geneste, Kristina Georgiou, Niki Hynes, Paull Weber Australian wine production has had a fair share of ups and downs in the past 10 years. More recently, overproduction, the high value of the dollar, and global competition from rapidly improving New World wine producers has strained the industry. Revenue has declined. Exports have softened. An... Read article 10 February 2016BCEC Reports  |  Feature Read More