Globalisation and the World Trade Organization

In its latest annual report, of which this is an extract, the Productivity Commission responds to current misconceptions about globalisation and the World Trade Organization (WTO). The Commission notes that, among other trends, there has been a five-fold increase in average per capita income over the 20th Century. And, contrary to a widespread perception about growing inequality, the ratio of the average income of people living in the richest fifth and poorest fifth of the world narrowed over the 1990s.annual report - globalisation - WTO - child labour - environmental standards - global economy

Disability Care and Support

The Productivity Commission inquiry report — Disability Care and Support — was released on 10 August 2011. Current disability support arrangements are inequitable, underfunded, fragmented, and inefficient and give people with a disability little choice. They provide no certainty that people will be able to access appropriate supports when needed. While some governments have performed much better than others, and there are pockets of success, overall, no disability support arrangements in any jurisdiction are working well in all of the areas where change is required. The current arrangements cannot be called a genuine ‘system’ in which different elements work together to achieve desired outcomes. The central message of this report is that a coherent and certain system for people with a disability is required — with much more and better-directed resourcing, a national approach, and a shift in decision-making to people with a disability and their carers. This overview explains what is wrong with the current arrangements and how to improve them. It shows how a new system would work for people with a disability and their families, and how it would provide benefits for the community as a whole. This overview booklet contains the key points, and an extensive summary of the Commission's analysis and recommendations. For the detailed supporting material, please view the full report from the Commission’s website.disability; disability care; disability support; NDIS; National Disability Insurance Scheme; disability services; no-fault National Injury Insurance Scheme

Wheat Export Marketing Arrangements

In 2008, the Australian Government deregulated the marketing of bulk wheat exports by removing the ‘single desk’ operated by AWB (International) Limited. Wheat Exports Australia (WEA) was established under the Wheat Export Marketing Act 2008 (WEMA) to administer an accreditation scheme for bulk wheat exporters. The Wheat Export Accreditation Scheme 2008 (Scheme) also came into effect on 1 July 2008, making it possible for any trader, once accredited, to export bulk wheat from that date. Port terminal operators wishing to export were required to satisfy an additional ‘access test’ to gain accreditation. The legislation also required the Productivity Commission to conduct a review of the arrangements, commencing no later than 1 January 2010 and reporting to the Australian Government by 1 July 2010. Among other key messages, the Commission has found the transition to competition in the exporting of bulk wheat has progressed relatively smoothly, particularly given difficult international trading conditions; the regulatory arrangements for marketing bulk wheat exports have been beneficial during the transitional phase since deregulation; the accreditation scheme, Wheat Exports Australia and the Wheat Export Charge should be abolished on 30 September 2011; the port terminal access test has provided greater certainty for traders and made access easier, more timely and less costly than it could have been by relying on potential declaration under Part IIIA of the Trade Practices Act; however, there are still some transitional issues associated with port access and contestability in the logistics supply chain.wheat export marketing act; wheat export; Accreditation Scheme; wheat export; Wheat Exports Australia; bulk wheat; accreditation; grain supply; export supply chain; single desk

Vocational Education and Training Workforce

This Productivity Commission research report was released on 5 May 2011. This report, the first of a suite of three on the education and training workforce, focusses on the Vocational Education and Training workforce. Other reports will follow on the Early Childhood Development and Schools workforces, respectively. Education and training are essential to generate the skills and knowledge required for a productive economy. They also facilitate social inclusion and civic participation. COAG’s reform agenda seeks to raise the educational attainment of the population in general, and of Indigenous Australians in particular. The performance of the education and training workforce has a fundamental role to play in this. A diverse range of public and private VET providers meets many of the expectations of students and significant segments of industry. However, some industry sectors, such as aged care, disability care and early childhood development, have expressed concerns about the skills of VET workers assessed as competent by some Registered Training Organisations. The Commission identified a number of areas where the VET sector and its workforce could operate more effectively. These include being more responsive to the needs of Indigenous Australians, improving managerial and leadership skills and making greater use of informationand communications technologies. The report notes that existing industrial relations arrangements in TAFE make it difficult for individual institutions to respond flexibly to emerging demand pressures, such as in the resources sector and in human services. The Commission recommends that individual TAFEs be allowed to recruit, pay and manage their staff in ways that meet their particular business goals.vocational education and training; VET workforce; vocational workforce; vocational education; training workforce; human capital; workforce planning; workforce capability; workforce skills; coag framework; dual professional

Rural Research and Development Corporations

Through the Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), rural industries and the Australian Government together invest some $490 million a year in R&D. This co-investment model has important strengths, including: helping to ensure that public money is not spent on research of little practical value; and facilitating greater and faster uptake of research outputs. However, as currently configured, the model has some significant shortcomings:◦it does not cater well for broader rural R&D needs; the overall level of public support for industry-focused research is too high given the sound financial reasons that producers or industries would have to fully fund much of this research themselves; the basis for the Government's matching contribution to RDCs provides no incentive for producers to increase their investments in the model over time. While the broad model should be retained, significant changes to the way in which the Government contributes its funding are therefore called for. Specifically: the current cap on dollar for dollar matching of industry contributions by the Government should be halved over a ten-year period; a new, uncapped, subsidy at the rate of 20 cents in the dollar should be immediately introduced for industry contributions above the level that attracts dollar for dollar matching; a new, government-funded, RDC - Rural Research Australia (RRA) - should be created to sponsor broader rural research. With RRA in place, the other RDCs (except for the Fisheries RDC) should be left to focus predominantly on funding research of direct benefit to their industry constituents. These new arrangements would result in a modest reduction in total government funding for the RDC model - though with a similarly modest increase in private contributions, the overall amount of funding available to the RDCs could increase. More importantly, the redistribution of some public money to broader research would deliver better value for the community from its investment in the model. Some more specific changes can be viewed in the report.rural research; rural research and development; RDCs; rural research and development corporations; R&D

Carbon Emission Policies in Key Economies

The Australian Government asked the Productivity Commission to undertake a study on the ‘effective’ carbon prices that result from emissions and energy reduction policies in Australia and other key economies (the UK, USA, Germany, New Zealand, China, India, Japan and South Korea). The Commissions research report, released 9 June 2011, provides a stocktake of the large number of policy measures in the electricity generation and road transport sectors of the countries studied. And it provides estimates of the burdens associated with these policies in each country and the abatement achieved. While the results are based on a robust methodology, data limitations have meant that some estimates could only be indicative. More than 1000 carbon policy measures were identified in the nine countries studied, ranging from (limited) emissions trading schemes to policies that support particular types of abatement technology. While these disparate measures cannot be expressed as an equivalent single price on greenhouse gas emissions, all policies impose costs that someone must pay. The Commission has interpreted ‘effective’ carbon prices broadly to mean the cost of reducing greenhouse gas emissions — the ‘price’ of abatement achieved by particular policies. The estimated cost per unit of abatement achieved varied widely, both across programs within each country and in aggregate across countries. The relative cost effectiveness of price-based approaches is illustrated for Australia by stylised modelling that suggests that the abatement from existing policies for electricity could have been achieved at a fraction of the cost. The estimated price effects of supply-side policies have generally been modest, other than for electricity in Germany and the UK. Such price uplifts are of some relevance to assessing carbon leakage and competitiveness impacts, but are very preliminary and substantially more information would be required.carbon pricing; cost abatement; greenhouse gas emissions; abatement technology; carbon policy; energy reduction policy; emissions trading scheme; carbon leakage

Battery eggs sale and production in the ACT

On 31 July 1998 the Commission received a request from the Treasurer to undertake, on behalf of the Government of the Australian Capital Territory, a study into whether it is in the public interest for the ACT to: . ban the sale of eggs from battery caged hens in the ACT (whether produced in the ACT or not); . ban the production of eggs from battery caged hens in the ACT; and . introduce a labelling requirement for all eggs displayed, or sold, in the ACT to indicate the conditions under which the hens produced the eggs.battery eggs - battery hens - public benefit test - ACT - ACT legislation - battery cage - egg production - animal welfare - demand - supply - demand - consumer preferences - occupational health and safety - human health - environmental matters - ANZFAS - consumption

Broadcasting

In 1999, the Commonwealth Government referred the Broadcasting Services Act and related legislation to the Productivity Commission for inquiry and report within twelve months. The inquiry stems from the Government’s commitment under the Competition Principles Agreement to review legislation for its anticompetitive effects and covers the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (including the 1998 digital conversion amendments), Broadcasting Services (Transitional Provisions and Consequential Amendments) Act 1992, Radio Licence Fees Act 1964 and the Television Licence Fees Act 1964. The Commission was to advise on practical courses of action to improve competition, efficiency and the interests of consumers in broadcasting service.broadcasting - digital television - media ownership - legislation - licensing - radio - television - tv - spectrum - airwaves - cultural diversity - local contect - radiofrequency - public interest - competition principles agreement - media - news - indigenous broadcasting - audiovisual - film - spectrum management - narrowcaster - analog - analogue - digital - cross-media - audience - sport - convergence - programs - programming - standards

Impact of competition policy reforms on rural and regional Australia

On 28 August 1998 the Treasurer referred the impact of competition policy reforms on rural an regional Australia for inquiry and report within 12 months of receiving the reference. The Commission is to assess the impact (both transitional and ongoing) of the competition policy and related reforms introduced by the Commonwealth, State, Territory and local governments under the three intergovernmental agreements signed in April 1995 — the Competition Principles Agreement, the Conduct Code Agreement and the Agreement to Implement the National Competition Policy and Related Reforms.competition policy - rural and regional Australia - bush - National Competition Policy - country - demographics - labour market - social indicators - Competition Principles Agreement - electricity - water - gas - road transport - statutory marketing arrrangements - competitive neutrality - competitive tendering and contracting - local government - assistance - tourism - mining - sugar - rice - dairy - telecommunications - agriculture

Structural Adjustment - Key Policy Issues

Structural Adjustment – Key Policy Issues highlights two challenging issues for policy advisers and policy makers alike — the evaluative framework used for assessing reform proposals and the development of implementation strategies to give effect to policy changes. The Commission argues that good policy outcomes require robust evaluation processes which should involve explicit consideration of the likely benefits, costs and distributional effects of reform proposals, not just for particular groups, but across the wider community.structural adjustment - policy - reform - government assistance