Research Reports

Pilbara Water Resources Situational Analysis Mike Mouritz, Owen Hightower, Helen Cabalu, Brett Harris, Cynthia Joll, Stephen van Leeuwen, Robyn Heckenberg, Michael Dockery, Andrew Dowding Water is a critical resource in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, a vast and diverse landscape that has been home to more than 31 Aboriginal language groups for at least 50,000 years. It is also home to globally significant... Read article 16 December 2022Research Reports Read More
Understanding utility hardship Graham Hansen, Eva Perroni, Silvia Salazar Access to energy and water is essential for people’s health, wellbeing and security, and to meet all of their basic needs. This is recognised in the United Nations Development, 2030 Agenda for Sustainable which sets out the goals of ensuring... Read article 9 December 2022Research Reports Read More
Towards a healthy and safe workforce in the mining industry: A review and mapping of current practice Alan Duncan, Jaslin Kalsi, Astghik Mavisakalyan The Mental Awareness, Respect and Safety (MARS) Landmark Study is a four-year research and evaluation project led by ARC Laureate Professor Sharon Parker at the Centre for Transformative Work Design at Curtin University. The Landmark Study was commissioned by the... Read article 26 November 2022Research Reports Read More
Western Australia’s trade and economic relationship with China Alan Duncan, Abebe Hailemariam, Daniel Kiely The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre was approached by the Australia China Business Council (ACBC) to evaluate the benefits of Western Australia’s trade, export and investment activity with China to the State’s households. China is the second largest economy in the... Read article 9 November 2022Research Reports Read More
2022 Women’s Report Card Alan Duncan, Daniel Kiely, Silvia Salazar The 2022 Women’s Report Card sets out the status and current state of play of women in Western Australia, and in doing so, helps to track progress to achieving better outcomes for women. As is the case to varying degrees... Read article 4 August 2022Research Reports Read More
How many in a crowd? Assessing overcrowding measures in Australian housing Michael Dockery, Megan Moskos, Linda Isherwood, Mark Harris This research assesses the measurement of overcrowding in Australia and explores the relationships between various household density measures and the wellbeing of occupants. Indicators of the incidence or severity of household crowding in Australia actually measure occupant density—the ratio of... Read article 28 July 2022Research Reports Read More
Canning Vale Food Value Add Precinct Alex Buckland, Alan Duncan, Elizabeth Jackson, Silvia Salazar, Billy Sung The City of Canning engaged the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre (BCEC) to assess the economic case and potential opportunities of a food value add precinct in the Canning Vale industrial area. This report, Canning Vale Food Value Add Precinct, assesses the economic... Read article 24 June 2022Research Reports Read More
Woort Koorliny: Australian Indigenous Employment Index 2022 Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Michael Dockery, Jaslin Kalsi, Lili Loan Vu, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Silvia Salazar The Indigenous Employment Index was commissioned by Minderoo’s Generation One initiative, partnering with Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre and Murawin Consulting, as an Australian first to identify and measure practices within large organisations that increase and improve Indigenous employment. The goal... Read article 24 May 2022Research Reports Read More
Family and Domestic Violence Leave Review Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Abebe Hailemariam, Astghik Mavisakalyan The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre was commissioned to undertake an independent economic analysis of the cost of providing paid family and domestic violence leave to workers on the modern award wage by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) as... Read article 16 May 2022Research Reports Read More
Assessing tourism potentials in the Fitzroy Valley Michael Volgger, Christof Pforr, Ross Taplin, Michael Dockery, Sara Cavalcanti Marques Promoting sustainable Indigenous tourism development in WA’s Kimberley region The Fitzroy Valley is nestled within the West Kimberley region of Western Australia, and, if considered in its narrower circumscription, is located approximately 400km east of the commercial hub of Broome... Read article 16 February 2022Policy Insights  |  Workforce and Skills  |  Research Reports Read More
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mobility in Central Australia: Survey Reference Guide Volume 1 Michael Dockery, Maria Julieta Rottemberg This publication, in two parts, provides an overview of the methodology and results from the Mobility Survey undertaken for the Population Mobility and Labour Markets Project, Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation. The survey investigated temporary mobility patterns of... Read article 8 November 2021Research Reports Read More
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mobility in Central Australia: Survey Reference Guide Volume 2 Michael Dockery, Maria Julieta Rottemberg This publication, in two parts, provides an overview of the methodology and results from the Mobility Survey undertaken for the Population Mobility and Labour Markets Project, Cooperative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation. The survey investigated temporary mobility patterns of... Read article 8 November 2021Research Reports Read More
Relationships between metropolitan, satellite and regional city size, spatial context and economic productivity Chris Leishman, Steven Bond-Smith, Weidong Liang, Jinqiao Long, Duncan Maclennan, Steven Rowley This report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), considers evidence about the existence and scale of agglomeration economies, including in Australian cities. Agglomeration economies are inherently complex in terms of how they interact with city size... Read article 24 June 2021Research Reports Read More
Mortgage stress and precarious home ownership Rachel Ong ViforJ, Gavin Wood, Melek Cigdem, Silvia Salazar Between 1987 and 2015, the growth in mortgage debt outstripped both house price and income growth among older mortgagors (55+). Mortgage debt blew out by 600 per cent while house prices tripled. Income growth lagged even further behind, doubling over... Read article 29 August 2019Research Reports Read More
Pathways to housing tax reform Richard Eccleston, Julia Verdouw, Kathleen Flanagan, Neil Warren, Alan Duncan, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Stephen Whelan, Kadir Atalay Despite widespread agreement that housing tax reform would lead to better housing outcomes and improved economic efficiency, the politics and ideology around housing tax policy remain a deterrent for change. This report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research... Read article 5 July 2018Research Reports Read More
The income tax treatment of housing assets: an assessment of proposed reform arrangements Alan Duncan, Helen Hodgson, John Minas, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Richard Seymour This report models several potential transitional arrangements that may ease the distribution pressures arising from reforms to negative gearing and capital gains tax (CGT) reform, and help smooth a reform pathway that is more politically acceptable. Negative gearing and CGT... Read article 7 March 2018Research Reports Read More
IMF Technical Assistance Report to the People’s Republic of China: Tax Policy and Employment Creation Alexander Klemm, Isaias Coelho, Alan Duncan, Li Liu BCEC Director Alan Duncan was invited to be part of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) Expert Mission to the People’s Republic of China, to prepare a Technical Assistance Report on the impact of tax policy on employment in China. The... Read article 1 March 2018Research Reports Read More
Scenarios for Western Australia’s International Education Sector Alan Duncan, Daniel Kiely, Kenneth Leong, Richard Seymour International education is a key sector for the Australian and Western Australian economies. It is now the country’s principal services export and our third largest export industry overall. It has been identified in many government and other studies as an... Read article 2 October 2017Research Reports Read More
Housing Futures in Australia: An Intergenerational Perspective Rachel Ong ViforJ, Judith Yates, Nigel Stapledon, Chris Leishman, Emma Baker, David Morrison, Gavin Tonnet This chapter looks at the widening intergenerational housing wealth gap between the young and old. It discusses how the timing of historical policy reforms, alongside changing labour market and housing conditions, have given rise to fewer opportunities to accumulate housing... Read article 28 August 2017Research Reports Read More
Australian Demographic Trends and Implications for Housing Assistance Programs Rachel Ong ViforJ, Gavin Wood, Melek Cigdem This report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), presents the findings from two programs of research. In the first (Part 1), we explore the implications of demographic change for government outlays on housing assistance, and the... Read article 1 July 2017Research Reports Read More
Inquiry into housing policies, labour force participation and economic growth Rachel Ong ViforJ, Gavin Wood, Stephen Whelan, Melek Cigdem, Kadir Atalay, Jago Dodson This Inquiry, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), presents evidence on how housing policies might promote labour force participation and economic growth through four channels—housing supply responsiveness, labour mobility, employment decisions and consumption. Despite strong evidence... Read article 27 June 2017Research Reports Read More
Housing supply responsiveness in Australia: distribution, drivers and institutional settings Rachel Ong ViforJ, Tony Dalton, Nicole Gurran, Christopher Phelps, Steven Rowley, Gavin Wood Key findings from this report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), include the following: A 1 per cent increase in the level of real housing prices is estimated to produce a 4.7 per cent (3.9%) increase... Read article 18 May 2017Research Reports Read More
happy workers: How satisfied are Australians at work? Rebecca Cassells In 2017, around 12 million Australians will work an estimated total of 20 billion hours in paid employment. An average Australian man can expect to spend half of their waking lives at a paying job and an average Australian woman... Read article 5 April 2017Research Reports Read More
Aboriginal assets? The impact of major agreements associated with native title in Western Australia Michael Dockery, Sarah Prout, Aileen Hoath Agreements negotiated under the regime created by the Native Title Act (1993) are often seen as having the potential to address disadvantage faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and promote Aboriginal economic independence. This applies particularly to regional... Read article 20 March 2017Research Reports Read More
A new look at the channels from housing to employment decisions Melek Cigdem, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Gavin Wood The purpose of this study, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), is to investigate the role of current housing assistance arrangements, housing wealth and mortgages in individuals’ employment decisions. The study also explores whether bequests or... Read article 2 March 2017Research Reports Read More
Does private schooling pay? Evidence and equity implications for Australia Michael Dockery How effectively different schools prepare young people for future social and economic engagement has important implications for education practice, funding allocations and social equity, as well as for parental decision making. This paper uses data from waves 2001-2014 of the... Read article 27 October 2016Research Reports Read More
Subsidised affordable rental housing: lessons from Australia and overseas Steven Rowley, Amity James, Catherine Gilbert, Nicole Gurran, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Peter Phibbs, David Rosen, Christine Whitehead A supply of affordable rental housing is essential to allow households to transition out of scarce public and social housing and into the private rental sector. Affordable rental options are essential for those households already in the private rental sector... Read article 1 August 2016Research Reports Read More
Making connections: housing, productivity and economic development Duncan Maclennan, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Gavin Wood This is a scoping study funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) with the immediate aim of reviewing links between housing and productivity. It uses scans of existing literature, assessments of local strategies for planning, and interviews... Read article 31 October 2015Research Reports Read More
Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives? Fiona Hilferty, Rebecca Cassells, Kristy Muir, Alan Duncan, Daniel Christensen, Francis Mitrou, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Katherine Hafekost, Yashar Tarverdi, Ha Nguyen, Ilan Katz headspace aims to improve the mental health and social and emotional wellbeing of young people in Australia through the provision of evidence-based, integrated, youth-centred and holistic services. In January 2013, the Australian Government Department of Health (DoH) commissioned a consortium... Read article 2 October 2015Research Reports Read More
Factors shaping the dynamics of housing affordability in Australia 2001-11 Gavin Wood, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Melek Cigdem The research documented in this report to the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI) offers key insights into the duration of exposures to unaffordable housing. It also identifies the socio-demographic characteristics of those low-income Australians who find it more difficult... Read article 30 September 2015Research Reports Read More
Australian demographic trends and their implications for housing subsidies Melek Cigdem, Gavin Wood, Rachel Ong ViforJ This Positioning Paper, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), is the first output of a project that aims to forecast future housing subsidies that will accompany projected demographic changes and the challenges these trends may pose... Read article 31 May 2015Research Reports Read More
Housing affordability dynamics: new insights from the last decade Gavin Wood, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Melek Cigdem This report, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), explores the duration of housing affordability stress (HAS) in Australia. It tracks the housing affordability trajectories of Australians over the period 2001–11. The dataset employed in this project... Read article 30 November 2014Research Reports Read More
Wellbeing outcomes of lower income renters Sharon Parkinson, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Melek Cigdem, Elizabeth Taylor Executive Summary A critical assumption of area-based policies aiming to foster greater ‘social mix’ of communities is that the adverse consequences associated with concentrations of social disadvantage will be reduced. The main vehicle to facilitate contemporary policies of social mix... Read article 31 August 2014Research Reports Read More
Keep Them Safe Outcomes Evaluation: Economic Evaluation Final Report Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Marcia Keegan The purpose of the economic evaluation is to provide evidence of the cost-effectiveness of both the overall and individually funded aspects of KTS and to inform ongoing budgetary directions for child protection and wellbeing policy in NSW. A cost-effectiveness framework... Read article 1 June 2014Research Reports Read More
Keep Them Safe Outcomes Evaluation: KTS Indicators Final Report Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Christine Eastman, Ilan Katz, Marcia Keegan, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Aron Shlonsky, Ciara Smyth, Kylie Valentine The NSW government has made a substantial investment towards protecting children from harm through its $800m KTS child protection initiative. KTS is arguably the most significant change to child protection policy in NSW since the introduction of mandatory reporting in... Read article 1 June 2014Research Reports Read More
Keep Them Safe Outcomes Evaluation: Spatial Analysis Final Report Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Grace Gao, Marcia Keegan The NSW government has made a substantial investment towards protecting children from harm through its $800m KTS child protection initiative. KTS is arguably the most significant change to child protection policy in NSW since the introduction of mandatory reporting in... Read article 1 June 2014Research Reports Read More
Keep Them Safe Outcomes Evaluation: Synthesis of Evaluations Final Report Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Ilan Katz, Marcia Keegan, Michelle Macvean, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Robyn Middleton, Kylie Valentine Many of the individual programs established or expanded as part of the KTS initiative for child protection in New South Wales have been evaluated as part of the wider commitment to evaluate the KTS reforms. This report provides an assessment... Read article 1 June 2014Research Reports Read More
Housing equity withdrawal: Uses,risks and barriers to alternative mechanisms in later life Rachel Ong ViforJ, Therese Jefferson, Gavin Wood, Marietta Haffner This project, funded by the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute (AHURI), uncovers the uses, risks of and barriers to housing equity withdrawal (HEW) by older home owners aged 45 years and over via three alternative mechanisms: in situ mortgage... Read article 31 October 2013Research Reports Read More
The edges of home ownership Gavin Wood, Susan J Smith, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Melek Cigdem The edges of ownership form a neglected zone between the majority tenure, sustainable owner occupation, and the minority experience, long-term renting. In tenure-divided societies like Australia, the UK and the USA—where there is a stark financial, social and cultural divide... Read article 31 October 2013Research Reports Read More
Marginalised Australians: characteristics and predictors of exit over ten years 2001-10 Tegan Cruwys, Helen Berry, Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan, Lean O’Brien, Brie Sage, Gabriela D’Souza A decade ago a group of ‘marginalised’ Australians were identified; individuals who are characterised by a complex mix of financial, social, and mental health disadvantage. This project has followed up these individuals ten years later, and found that a majority... Read article 14 October 2013Research Reports Read More
Trends in Poverty and Inequality in Decentralising Indonesia Riyana Miranti, Yogi Vidyattama, Eric Hansnata, Rebecca Cassells, Alan Duncan As one of the world’s largest emerging economies, Indonesia has experienced rapid economic growth and substantial reduction of poverty over the past three decades, particularly prior to the 1997-98 Asian Financial Crisis. After the crisis, Indonesia entered a new development... Read article 23 July 2013Research Reports Read More
Wellbeing outcomes of lower income renters: a multi-level analysis of area effects Sharon Parkinson, Melek Cigdem, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Elizabeth Taylor Whether it is better to be ‘poor’ in a ‘poor area’ or one that is more socially diverse has been a central concern for research attempting to establish the neighbourhood effects associated with concentrations of disadvantage and for policies aiming... Read article 30 June 2013Research Reports Read More
Assets, debt and the drawdown of housing equity by an ageing population Rachel Ong ViforJ, Marietta Haffner, Gavin Wood, Therese Jefferson This Positioning Paper is the first output of a project that aims to uncover the uses, financial costs and risks of housing equity withdrawal (HEW) via alternative mechanisms by older Australians. By HEW, we are specifically referring to any mechanism... Read article 31 May 2013Research Reports Read More
School Completion Jacqueline Homel, Astghik Mavisakalyan, Ha Nguyen, Chris Ryan This paper examines how disadvantage affects educational outcomes, in this instance, Year 12 completion. While previous studies have found a strong link between parental education or occupational status and Year 12 completion, this research was able to capture a broader... Read article 5 July 2012Research Reports Read More
The spatial and distributional impacts of the Henry Review recommendations on stamp duty and land tax Gavin Wood, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Melek Cigdem, Elizabeth Taylor This report is the second Final Report of a project that examines the impact on supply and affordability from implementation of the Henry Review recommendations in relation to negative gearing, land tax and stamp duty. There are two main recommendations... Read article 1 February 2012Research Reports Read More
The impacts of the Henry Review recommendations on the private rental market Gavin Wood, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Clinton McMurray 1 September 2011Research Reports Read More
Asset poverty and older Australians’ transitions onto housing assistance programs Gavin Wood, Val Colic-Peisker, Mike Berry, Rachel Ong ViforJ This project aims to explore how the asset-poor status of older Australians helps to determine their demand for housing assistance, the coping strategies used by the asset-poor as they strive to secure satisfactory housing outcomes and the importance of these... Read article 30 November 2010Research Reports Read More
Housing needs of asset-poor older Australians: other countries’ policy initiatives and their implications for Australia Gavin Wood, Val Colic-Peisker, Rachel Ong ViforJ, Naomi Bailey, Mike Berry This Positioning Paper is the first output of a project that explores housing options and actual housing circumstances of asset-poor older Australians. Australia has very high levels of outright ownership among its pensioners. However, this is threatened by falling levels... Read article Research Reports Read More