Measuring the Costs of Living of Australian Families

Arguments about the construction and application of equivalence scales have been a constant feature of the income security debate in Australia over the past decade. Ian Manning has written this monograph to provide a review of the attempts to derive equivalence scales from Australian data, and to try to indicate some directions for future work. In his words, An equivalence scale gives an estimate of the relative income required, on average, for households with different characteristics to attain the same standard of living. As such it is a precise estimate of a somewhat hazy concept, and the merits and accuracy of different equivalence scales are therefore necessarily contested. Indeed, some would say that the methodological problems in deriving a widely-accepted equivalence scale are so serious that the concept should be abandoned, but unfortunately it will not go away; the concept is fundamental to the measurement of economic inequality, and it also lies at the basis of the table of social security rates

Diary of Social Legislation and Policy 1983

This Diary summarises the legislative and administrative changes made in the social policy field during 1983 by the Commonwealth government and by some of the State governments. It provides a ready reference for research workers, and can also be used as a succinct and factual account of policy during the year.In addition to Commonwealth legislation and events, this Diary attempts to cover the main policy changes at State level in the fields of social security and welfare however it has not been possible to obtain complete coverage for all fields and all States

Diary of Social Legislation and Policy 1981

This Diary summarises the legislative and administrative changes made in the social policy field during 1981 by the Commonwealth government, and to a lesser extent by the State governments. It provides a ready reference for research workers, and can also be used as a succinct and factual account of policy during the year.Unlike its predecessors, this Diary attempts to cover the main policy changes at a State level in the social policy field. It was not possible to obtain complete coverage for all fields and all States, but it was decided to publish those summaries which were obtained, on the grounds that a beginning must be made. This Diary covers the main areas of social policy apart from education. However, it makes no mention of general economic policy or political events. For these the reader is referred to the 'Diary of Recent Economic Events and policy statements' included in each issue of the Australian Economic Review, to the Diary of Political Events in each issue of Australian Quarterly, and to the 'Broadcasting Chronology' included since 1981 in Media Information Australia