With the population of Sydney projected to grow by over 1.2 million by 2041, the NSW Government has recognised the implications for physical infrastructure such as roads, airports and public transport. However, it has not undertaken the necessary investments required to build the social infrastructure needed by these growing communities.

Impact Economics and Policy estimates that to address unmet need and population growth in South West Sydney by 2041 governments will need to invest up to an additional $3.0 billion each year in current

4 dollars, including :

• $1.9 billion in social housing and housing assistance

• $426 million in community mental health services

• $422 million in child protection services

• $109 million in domestic and family violence services

• $51 million in migrant and refugee services.

The report was covered in The Sydney Morning Herald and on radio.

Through applying a gender lens on the Tasmanian housing crisis for the first time this report provides recommendations for the Government to ensure its 20-year Tasmanian Housing Strategy doesn’t leave women and children behind.

Analysis from Impact Economics and Policy for this report finds that women and children are bearing the brunt of Tasmania’s housing crisis:

• The rate of homelessness amongst Tasmanian women increased by 50 per cent between 2016 and 2021;

• Tasmania had over 6 times the national rate of women being turned away from crisis accommodation in 2021-22;

• An estimated 933 Tasmanian women are returning to a violent partner or entering homelessness after experiencing family violence each year due to a lack of housing; and

• Only 6 per cent of Tasmanian women with long term housing needs are having these needs met, compared to 18 per cent of men.

The report makes a number of recommendations including ensuring that the new social housing being built by the Tasmanian Government includes multiple bedroom properties to meet the unmet needs of women with children.

The report was covered by local ABC radio and The Mercury.

Making pre-school more affordable for families would lead to more children finishing school, lower unemployment, less crime and better health outcomes, according to new research from Impact Economics and Policy.

But the research, which was released in partnership with Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign, found recent announcements of free pre-school in NSW and Victoria are being undermined by the Federal Government’s Activity Test.

The research found between 18,100 and 23,900 more Australian children would finish high school if two years of pre-school was made universally accessible. The benefits from increased school retention would add up to $27.3 billion to the economy.

The total lifetime benefits of increasing access to two years of pre-school would add up to $40.9 billion to the economy through increased earnings and less need for social services such as Centrelink.

The report was covered by The Herald Sun and ABC News Radio.

The Return on Equity - Health and economic dividends from investing in Women's Health Services Report reveals the long-term economic benefits of investing in women's health, from reducing cost pressures on the healthcare system to improving workforce participation.

For over three decades, the network of 12 Women's Health Services has been championing best-practice models, addressing gender inequality, and enhancing the health and wellbeing of women and girls across Victoria.

Funding in the 2024-25 Victorian Budget is required to preserve the progress and benefits achieved, and to ensure continued support for inclusive communities, reduced healthcare costs, and improved workforce participation and reduction in violence against women and girls.

The report is covered here.

Legal Aid is Australia’s way of bridging the gap between affordability of and access to legal assistance; it is social insurance for the justice system. But the system is broken.

Completed with support from National Legal Aid, this report documents the crisis unfolding in Australia’s legal assistance sector.

In 2014, a major report by the Productivity Commission recommended additional Commonwealth funding of $200 million per year for legal assistance services to address unmet need. This funding would have expanded the means test for Legal Aid, giving more people access and increasing the number of grants. However, this was never provided and there is insufficient funding to meet demand, leaving many Australians without access to legal representation and services, and placing unsustainable pressure on legal practitioners.

The report was covered by both The Australian and The Guardian newspapers.

In this report commissioned by Philanthropy Australia, Impact Economics and Policy looked into a simple idea to make it easier for people to leave bequests directly from their superannuation.

The proposed reforms that would remove the 17 per cent tax on superannuation bequests to charities and make it possible to donate directly from superannuation to charities.

Impact Economics and Policy modelling finds that over the period to 2060, the reforms will generate between $64.6 and $260.3 billion in income for charities from superannuation bequests. Under conservative assumptions this is expected to be a cost to government revenue of between $6.4 and $20.7 million over the forward estimates.

The Australian Financial Review covered the report here.

Impact Economics and Policy were honoured to provide expert support to the Tasmanian Government developing its 2023 Gender Budget Snapshot, including gender impact assessments of a number of new and existing policies and the development of a number of indicators of gender equity in Tasmania.

Impact Economics and Policy is excited to be welcoming economist and policy expert Nathan Blane to our team of experts. Nathan has worked for the Commonwealth Treasury, the Grattan Institute and most recently UnitingCare Australia as a Senior Adviser, Economic Policy. In this role he advised on community services, aged care and economic inclusion policies.

Nathan obtained a Bachelor Arts in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Otago before completing Honours in Philosophy at the University of Melbourne.

Impact Economics and Policy worked with Women for Progress a group of leading women from business, philanthopy and the non-profit sector to develop their 2023-24 Pre-Budget Submission.

Our report into the impacts of the Activity Test on female participation find that rather than acting as an incentive it is acting as a barrier to female participation, through increasing the costs of searching for work.

Impact Economics and Policy analysis shows that:

• 264,000 women in households with children under 5 are not participating in the workforce and cite child care as a barrier.

• Reducing search costs for women with young children through abolishing the Activity Test could increase participation of mothers with children under 5 years of age by 39,620 and increase GDP by up to $4.5 billion per year.

The report was covered by radio and television, and in this article for The Age. For an expert explanation of the Report’s findings see this from RMIT Senior Lecturer Dr Leonora Risse appearing on The Drum.

March 2023

Our report into the state of the NSW Health system found that it was breaking under the pressure of a post pandemic increase in demand for services, but many of the problems had be building for years. Completed with support of the HSU NSW we document the current crisis, likely future pressures and its structural drivers including:

• Workforce shortages caused by poor planning and limits on scope of practice

• Underinvestment in community health care, and lack of incentives for coordination of care across disciplines

• Blame and cost shifting between levels of government, and fragmented governance

• Poor incentives driven by fragmented funding arrangements between public and private health care

We make a number of recommendations, including the need for a Royal Commission similar to the Aged Care and Disability Royal Commissions, to facilitate an examination of all the drivers and structural issues that are undermining the performance of the health system .

The report was covered by television and print media, including this article on ABC Online News.

February 2023

We are excited to welcome Dr Emily Millane to Impact Economics and Policy as Lead, Economic Security and Governance.

Emily is a policy analyst, lawyer and adviser with expertise in superannuation and tax policy. Her focus is economic security and good governance, bringing a historical and contextual lens to current policy.

Emily has worked in public policy research and analysis at the Commonwealth Treasury, the ANU’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, for Grattan Institute and the Per Capita think tank. She has also worked as an adviser to now Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers MP.

Most recently, Emily has advised senior executives and boards in the superannuation industry and government sectors. Emily was Manager, Strategy and Government Relations at ASIC, where she also led the agency’s work on the Your Future, Your Super reforms.

Emily is a Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne Law School, where she teaches in the Melbourne Law Masters. She commenced her career at Maddocks Lawyers in the commercial team.

Emily’s PhD (ANU, 2020) examined the history of Australia’s superannuation system. She holds degrees in Arts (Hons) and Law from the University of Melbourne.

January 2023

The final report in our series of reports Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters focuses on Children’s Wellbeing and Development.

Our analysis found significant and long lasting impacts are likely on children as a result of natural disasters and the pandemic, with impacts concentrated in Western Sydney:

• 13.4 per cent increase in the number of children from low socio-economic areas developmentally vulnerable at the start of school

• Almost 220,000 students attending low SES schools who missed on average 15 weeks of face-to-face learning during the pandemic, equating to up to $16.3 billion in lost lifetime earnings

• 13,401 additional children at risk of significant harm between 2018/19 and 2020/21, which risks an increase in the lifetime costs associated with child abuse and neglect in NSW of $7.84 billion

We make a number of key policy recommendations to mitigate these impacts, and reduce the long term costs on the cohort of children impacted:

• Continued funding of high-quality school tutoring programs

• Integrating provision of whole-of-family, early intervention health and social services into the school environment in at-risk communities

• Expansion of early intervention and child protection services, including growing the provision of culturally-appropriate support and service provision, led by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and multicultural services

The report was covered in this article in the Sydney Morning Herald.

October 2022

This is the third report in our series of reports Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters and focuses on Housing Security.

Original modelling for this report by Impact Economics and Policy shows that across NSW 54,000 households have entered or experienced a worsening in housing stress since the start of the pandemic.

Since the start of 2020, there has also been an increase of around 10 per cent in the number of people seeking assistance from Specialist Homelessness Services that are experiencing homelessness. This increase is consistent with an additional 3,700 people in NSW experiencing homelessness when compared to the start of the pandemic.

In this report, we highlight a number of reforms that the NSW Government should progress as a matter of urgency:

• Building at least 5,000 new social housing dwellings per year to keep up with growing demand.

• Implementation of stamp duty reform that will improve the efficiency of the housing market.

• Tenancy reform that will provide renters greater protections and security.

The Daily Telegraph covered the report in this article.

October 2022

This report series Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters prepared in partnership with the New South Wales Council of Social Services, explores the impacts of the pandemic and natural disasters across several key domains of wellbeing – domestic violence, mental health, child welfare and development, and housing security.

In this second report in the series, we look at domestic and family violence, documenting a substantial increase in violence during 2020.

Original modelling from Impact Economics and Policy finds that in the first year of the pandemic:

-60,000 women in NSW experienced family and domestic violence for the first time; and -46,000 experienced an escalation in violence.

This increase in family and domestic violence during 2020 is estimated to have resulted in large direct costs, including health, productivity, and consumption costs, totalling $3.3 billion over the period 2020-2025. When ongoing pain, suffering and premature mortality are included, these costs increase to $24.6 billion over the period 2020-25.

The Sydney Morning Herald covered the report in this article.

September 2022

Impact Economics and Policy’s lead economist Dr Angela Jackson joined a panel on the final day of the Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra on the levers available to lift workforce participation. Dr Jackson shared her thoughts on the financial and non-financial barriers to workforce participation, including the child care activity test, paid parental leave, the low rate of Job Seeker and homelessness.

September 2022

A new report from Impact Economics and Policy, Child Care Subsidy Activity Test: Undermining Child Development and Parental Participation, shows that the current activity test for the Child Care Subsidy is contributing to at least 126,000 children from the poorest households missing out on critical early childhood education and care.

The activity test restricts the number of hours of Child Care Subsidy a family is entitled to based on the ‘recognised activity’ parents are engaged in.

While the activity test aims to encourage participation in the workforce, it does the opposite by creating significant uncertainty for parents in casual employment due to the ongoing risk that they will fail to meet the test and generate overpayment debts.

The report recommends abolishing the activity test as the next step towards providing every Australian child with access to three days of quality early childhood education and care per week.

The Daily Telegraph covered the report in this article and lead economist Dr Angela Jackson was interviewed on RN Breakfast about the report.

August 2022

This report series prepared in partnership with the New South Wales Council of Social Services, Aftershock: Addressing the Economic and Social Costs of the Pandemic and Natural Disasters, explores the impacts of the pandemic and natural disasters across several key domains of wellbeing – domestic violence, mental health, child welfare and development, and housing security. The aim is to document the huge personal and economic impacts which, if left unaddressed, will leave a long-term mark on the economy of NSW and its people.

In this report, the first in the series, we look at mental health, drawing together the research and latest data to highlight the devastating impacts of the past two and half years. New analysis and modelling from Impact Economics and Policy finds that:

Between 2018 and 2021 there was a 46 per cent increase in the number of 12-17-year-old females presenting for self-harm or suicidal thoughts.

In 2021 there was an estimated increase of 171,615, or 21 per cent more people with self-reported mental health consistent with depression or anxiety.

The Guardian covered the report in this article.

August 2022

Impact Economics and Policy prepared this report for the Everybody’s Home campaign to shed light on the link between the ongoing shortage of affordable housing on the ability of employers to attract workers in our regions. We explore the impacts of the pandemic on housing stress, rental and job vacancies across five regions - the Sunshine Coast; Geelong and the Surf Coast; Illawarra and South Coast; Fleurieu Peninsula; and Launceston and the North East..

The report was covered in The Age, The Australian, many regional news outlets and on ABC Radio.

August 2022

Lead Economist Dr Angela Jackson and Lead Education Julie Sonnemann published an opinion piece in the Australian Financial Review on the recent announcement by the NSW and Victorian Government’s to expand access to a universal year of pre-school education.

In a time of economic uncertainty when government balance sheets are at their weakest in a generation, there are going to be questions about the feasibility of such large new investments. But these reforms will deliver large economic dividends by reducing disincentives for parents to work, and through providing universal access to a key builder of our future productivity – early childhood education.

June 2022

Impact Economics and Policy was commissioned by Chief Executive Women to research the impact that increasing women’s participation in the paid workforce would have on addressing Australia’s current skills shortage.

Closing the gap between the amount of paid work undertaken by men and women in our economy could unlock up to 1 million FTE workers with post school qualifications.

The report was covered across a wide range of media including the front page of The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, and on ABC Radio.

May 2022

Lead Economist Dr Angela Jackson writes in The Age about the proposal to cut the excise on beer in the upcoming Budget.

Taxation and the pricing of alcohol plays an important role in minimising harm, alongside availability of alcohol in different settings and cultural norms around alcohol use. But Australia’s system of taxing alcohol is a mess, with vastly different tax rates applied to alcohol in different products. The alcohol in full strength beer is currently taxed at a rate almost ten times higher than the alcohol in cask wine. As a result, you can get drunk for as little as $1 in Australia, a price too low if you are serious about minimising harm.

March 2022

This report, commissioned by commerce platform, DoorDash, seeks to better understand the barriers to women in Australia starting and operating retail and hospitality businesses, so that government and the private sector can better support them.

It is well known that Australian women shoulder the majority of unpaid caring responsibilities. They also face unique challenges in starting and running a successful business.

Our primary research consisted of a national survey, with complementary focus groups and interviews during the first half of 2023.

This research was conducted with our regular collaborators, One Red Step.