Grattan Blog

10 September 201910 September 2019

The case for redefining low socioeconomic status in higher education

Since the early 1990s, higher education statistics have defined someone as of low socio-economic status if they are from a region classified in the lowest 25 per cent in Australia according to the ABS Index of Education and Occupation. Wouldn’t it be better to pay more attention to areas that for whatever reason have low university participation rates, even if quirks of the Index of Education and Occupation formula give them SES ratings that disqualify them from low-SES rewards? Why use proxy data when we have direct measures of whether an area has low participation in higher education or not?

Public housing building in Australia — Read more

Household Finances

9 September 20199 September 2019

Learning from past mistakes: lessons from the National Rental Affordability Scheme

Low income earners are struggling with high housing costs and there are widespread calls for governments to help. But the last major effort, the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), was fundamentally flawed.

Help debt interactive calculator graphic — Read more

Higher Education

5 September 20195 September 2019

Most people will pay less under the new HELP thresholds

The Federal Government has introduced new repayment thresholds for people with HELP debt. The new thresholds mean that most people with HELP debt will pay less each year, and the Government will recoup less debt each year than they would have under the previous system.

1 August 201931 July 2019

Deaths of despair in Australia

‘Deaths of despair’ are rising in Australia, particularly among middle-aged men.

25 July 2019

Young Australians continue to turn away from private health insurance

About 65,000 fewer Australians had health insurance in December 2018 compared to December 2017.

22 July 201922 July 2019

The gender divide at university

In 1987, for the first time in Australia’s history, more women than men were enrolled in higher education. Many things have changed since, but the gender make-up of our university classrooms is not one of them.

10 July 2019

More compulsory super hurts Middle Australia — however you look at it

Our latest research shows that lifting compulsory super contributions to 12 per cent would leave workers in Middle Australia poorer over their entire lifetimes – and that remains true under any plausible assumptions.

18 June 201917 June 2019

Who is homeless in Australia?

Homelessness is a growing problem in Australia. To tackle the scourge, we first need to understand who is homeless. Here’s what we know.

A better way of knowing if we’re in a recession

Policy makers need timely information to decide whether economic stimulus might be required. A new indicator based on the unemployment rate can help.

4 June 20194 June 2019

Election 2019: the result wasn’t the only surprise

The 2019 federal election: four surprising charts on what we know so far.