Consumers who only make the minimum repayment on their credit card could be paying hundreds of dollars a year in high interest payments. To help, BETA partnered with the Treasury and Westpac to see if reminders could encourage consumers to pay earlier and save money. We found any type of SMS reminder resulted in a $134 (28 per cent) increase in repayments in the following month, compared to those who received no message. However, different SMS messages all had a similar impact and we were unable to detect an effect from sending email reminders. Overall, the findings suggest that sending an SMS reminder to credit card consumers before their payment due date is a simple, cost-effective way to improve their financial wellbeing.

The Productivity Commission is to investigate the long-run economic impacts of transport regulatory reforms agreed by COAG in 2008-09 relating to heavy vehicle safety and productivity, rail safety and maritime safety and to make recommendations for further reforms towards a more integrated national market for transport services.

This paper assesses whether the Newstart Allowance for unemployed people should be increased. It investigates the relationship of the Newstart Allowance to Average Weekly Earnings, the Federal Minimum Wage, and Australian poverty lines, and considers the typical the duration of unemployment and long term unemployment, duration of time on income support, overseas allowances, cost of living, and a comparison with policy makers' remuneration. It finds that the value of the allowance has eroded since it was first set and that unemployment for many is not a transitional situation, and concludes that an increase is warranted to bridge the gap to the poverty line.

In 2017 the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Australian Defence Force (Australian Army) undertook a joint review of the Army Aboriginal Community Assistance Programme (AACAP) to assess its efficiency and effectiveness. The review found AACAP is a highly regarded and effective means of achieving positive environmental and primary health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities while providing valuable training outcomes for Army. AACAP's objectives align with the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) 'Closing the Gap' targets in Indigenous disadvantage and with the Australian Government's Indigenous Advancement Strategy (IAS). The report identified areas for potential improvement, recommending greater support for the sustainability of infrastructure and project investment, enhanced employment and training opportunities and strengthening of project governance.

The use of behavioural insights in public policy has traditionally focused on small, low cost 'nudges' to improve communications, increase compliance and enhance the way services are delivered. But BETA has begun to look beyond to identify a smaller set of 'richer veins' where BI can offer high financial and social impact. These areas includes consumer choice, financial decision-making and personal wellbeing.

The National Agreement for Skills and Workforce Development (NASWD) was agreed by the Australian, State and Territory governments in 2009 and updated in 2012. The NASWD sets out goals for skills attainment by Australians through the vocational education and training (VET) system and commitments to reforms to ensure that the system is accessible, produces high quality services and operates efficiently. This study will assess progress made by governments against the NASWD, and whether the agreement is still an effective long-term framework for government policy and cooperation.

"Fixed safety cameras that detect speeding (and in some cases red light running) are known to be a generally effective method of controlling driver behaviour and producing road safety benefits. They were first introduced in South Australia in 1988 and are now in operation at more than 150 locations around the State. Data on the speeding and red light running offences recorded at each of the sites are now publicly available. If the number of offences declines over time, this is an indication that the safety cameras are becoming increasingly effective in preventing speeding or red light running behaviour. The offence rates of the five types of safety cameras in use in South Australia were examined on a site by site basis. Safety cameras located in South Australian 50-90 km/h speed limit zones in built-up areas showed a similar overall trend in offence rates: speeding offence rates decreased rapidly during the first two to three years of operation; continued declines in speeding offence rates occurred for many years after that; and red light running offences showed general declines over time but not as consistently or to the same extent as speeding offences. Making the cameras more conspicuous from the time of installation may accelerate their positive effects. Safety cameras may also prevent vehicle speeding on high speed rural roads upon installation (this could not be measured here) but there appears to be little change in offence rates after this time. This is possibly due to the more conspicuous nature of these cameras. The tolerances applied to point to point average speed measurements appear to be the same as applied to spot speed measurements and could reasonably be reduced." -- Summary.

Smith, Steve.

Cricket -- Australia -- Anecdotes.

Food security -- Australia.

Architects -- Australia -- 21st century.

Fictions, Theory of.

Islands -- Australia -- Government policy.

Wild plants, Edible.

Krefft, Gerard, 1830-1881.

Data protection -- Law and legislation -- Australia.

Pollock, David.

East Indians -- Australia -- Languages.

Aboriginal Australians -- Land tenure.

Social psychology -- Australia.

Lyricists -- Australia -- Biography.

Humphries, Barry, 1934-

Architecture, Domestic -- Australia -- History -- 20th century.

Women -- South Australia -- Biography.

South Australia -- History -- Sources.

An update about the flood damage in Eastern Australia