The term 'primary health care' is commonly used interchangeably with 'primary care'. But, strictly speaking, primary health care is a strategy of public health, while primary care is usually taken to mean the first point of entry into the health system, generally for someone who is sick and seeking treatment or assistance. It is a problem for health care reform in Australia that these two approaches are often run together.

This report provides insights into community attitudes to immigration, multiculturalism and social cohesion, based on findings from specially-commissioned national and local surveys.

This policy paper explores the issues involved in corporatising public services and the possible consequences of using a corporatised model for the delivery of public housing in Tasmania and elsewhere.

This paper provides information on Australia's overseas trade and foreign investment performance in recent years and to highlight issues relevant to Australia's export capacity, international competitiveness, trade policy and trade development programs and services which may be addressed in submissions to the Review.

This roundtable examined the policy implications of behavioural economics ? a relatively new field that applies insights from psychology to economic issues and analysis. Participants discussed the contribution that behavioural economics can make to a broader understanding of people?s motivation and behaviour in markets and the implications for policy and regulatory approaches.

This report presents the findings from the consultations held in Australia and New Zealand as part of Beyond 2008, a project of the Vienna NGO Committee on Narcotic Drugs. Beyond 2008 is an opportunity for grassroots expertise to
contribute to a global drug policy process.

Since 1997 the Reserve Bank has conducted an annual survey of the fees that commercial banks earn from their Australian banking operations. This article summarises the results of the latest survey, relating to banks' 2007 financial year.

The budget papers, including portfolio statements and economic outlook reports, are available at the budget website.

If the outcomes of the recent COAG meeting are implemented, Australia will have a new set of benchmarks for its health system within a few months. Choice of benchmarks will, explicitly or implicitly, reflect a framework about how the health system works, what is important or to be valued and how the benchmarks are to be used.

The report highlights a range of issues regarding the jury system and processes, from community perceptions and juror information through to management of jurors during and after trials.

AIC research in 2003 examined the costs of crime to the Australian community. This current report provides an update to the previous work by estimating the costs of crime for 2005 as well as highlights the need for improved availability of Australian crime data.

Australia has relatively high levels of education, and our students perform well in international achievement tests, but there is an unacceptable gap between the performance of our best students and our weakest, many of whom are pooled in schools that are hard to staff.

Improving cognitive skills of young children has been suggested as a possible strategy for equalising opportunities across racial groups.

This report provides the key findings from seven years of research into the lives and happiness of the Australian population.

The Australian Unity Wellbeing Index has monitored the subjective wellbeing of the Australian population since April 2001 and this report concerns a special survey commissioned to detect whether a series of interest rate rises had decreased the subjective wellbeing of the population.

The National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) program aims to achieve a strategic and collaborative approach to investment in world-class research facilities, networks and infrastructure that are accessible to researchers and meet their long-term needs. NCRIS provides Australian researchers with major research facilities, supporting infrastructure and networks necessary for world-class research amounting to $542 million over 2005-2011. Responses need to be in by Wednesday 14 May.

This report investigates the role that vocational education and training (VET) can play in the transition from welfare to work. Case studies showed that VET can, and often does, help people move into paid work. However, target groups
have varied needs and the study concludes that the VET sector has more to do in catering for these subgroups.

What implications does the new Government's innovation agenda have for people working in practice, in research and education, or in the cultural institutions? On March 31 CHASS ran a one-day workshop in Sydney to discuss how the Arts sector can respond to the new Government's innovation agenda

This report makes 41 recommendations to improve settlement outcomes for refugees and humanitarian entrants from Africa. The recommendations made in the report are national in scope and relate to key agencies in both the Australian Government and the NSW Government.

The social benefits of migration far outweigh the costs, especially in the longer term. The evidence that is available overwhelmingly supports the view that migrants to Australia have made and continue to make substantial contributions to Australia's stock of human, social and produced capital.

In the 20 year period from 1979-80, commercial television revenues outpaced the general Australian economy. However, since 2000 television revenue growth has slowed.

This is the 2008 edition of the Alliance's annual report into the state of press freedom in Australia, and reports some promising developments over the past twelve months.

While Australia's consumer policy framework has considerable strengths, parts of it require an overhaul, according to this report. The first step in this process should be the introduction of a single generic consumer law applying across Australia, based on the consumer provisions in the Trade Practices Act, modified to address gaps in its coverage and scope.

This policy monograph analyses the implications of the government?s preventive health agenda and finds that the evidence does not support the claims that are frequently made about the long-run benefits of focusing more heavily on prevention.

The first comprehensive national survey of what parents want from long day care (LDC) has found that "Caring staff" is the most important criteria for ensuring parents are happy with the childcare.

This report presents the results of a study of options for the safest and most sustainable model of critical care services at the Mersey Community Hospital. The report finds that a high dependency unit is the safest and most sustainable model of critical care at the hospital.

This policy commentary reprints the official output of the conference, the Bali Action Plan, together with two contrasting commentaries by Robyn Eckersley and Michael Heazle.

This paper examines how Australia can bounce back from all hazards, not just terrorism. The paper recommends a number of specific measures to a build a more resilient Australia.

This mapping exercise illustrates the uneven pattern of carbon use by poor households across Melbourne and across Victoria. The findings point to the need for policies which will offset the regressive impact of a carbon price, to ensure that disadvantaged households are not unfairly penalised.

This report found that many Centrelink recipients are overpaid each year and struggled to repay the debts without access to the independent legal advice and support they need.

This report explores the impact that the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands has had for local Solomon Islanders and highlights the limits of RAMSI five years on.

This paper outlines the history of successive forums for investigation of crimes committed in East Timor by Indonesian military forces and militia forces under Indonesian control between 1975 and 1999 and reviews the work of courts and inquiries under UN, East Timorese and Indonesian auspices.

The Victorian Government is taking the opportunity
to be part of the more proactive national emissions
reduction effort in Australia by reviewing and
updating its climate change policies and programs.

This statement sets out the guiding principles that the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care expects all state, territory and federal governments to uphold in developing and implementing an effective and integrated child welfare and protection system in Australia.

Owning and managing lands of the significance of the tropical savannah of the Northern Territory brings many diverse challenges. This presentation discusses the formalisation of Aboriginal land and sea management activities in the mid 1990s and the establishment of the Caring for Country program.

The report is an observational study of maternal deaths in Australia and the fourteenth report on why women die during pregnancy and childbirth.

This paper examines the benefits of community
participation for children, families and communities; then goes on to look at the challenges associated with encouraging participation in communities experiencing social exclusion.

This paper discusses the extent to which the decline in marriage rates over the past few decades reflects changing attitudes to marriage and cohabitation.

This paper outlines a comprehensive set of proposals to advance the climate change debate on the road to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change 15th Conference of the Parties in Copenhagen in December 2009.

Rapid global economic growth is driving rapid greenhouse gas emissions growth, making earlier projections unrealistic. This paper projects annual emissions by 2030 to be almost double current volumes, 11 per cent higher than in the most pessimistic scenario developed by the IPCC.

This report presents summary data collected in Australia's most comprehensive national survey of drug use and related issues, together with comparisons with previous surveys and population estimates of the numbers of consumers of tobacco, alcohol and illicit drugs.

Australian and New Zealand tertiary students are less engaged with their universities than their North American counterparts, according to this report. Australian and New Zealand students report lower levels of contact with teaching staff and are less likely to have participated in activities described as 'enriching educational experiences'.

Building communities of professional learners is the key to meeting Australia?s school leadership challenge, according to this review of research. This report argues that the task of leading a school is now too complex and demanding a job for one person, and that improving schooling over time requires the enhanced capacity, not just of one person, but of many.

This report collates and analyses data on domestic applicants for undergraduate university courses from the Tertiary Admission Centres in each state. Using this information, Universities Australia estimates that the underlying level of 'unmet demand' has continued its downward trend from 2003.

This report focuses on the communications industry's performance in providing services to residential and business consumers, and on how the industry is meeting its regulatory obligations. The industry?s performance in providing consumer benefits and wider economic benefits is also assessed.

This report argues that the NSW electricity sector requires three critical conditions to embrace aggressively cost-effective
energy efficiency and other forms of demand-side resources, such as customer-owned generation and demand-side management.

This paper outlines the key things to get right in an emissions trading scheme to ensure that it plays a role in preventing dangerous climate change.

This paper seeks to contribute to an analysis of the continuing usefulness and effectiveness of the Racial Discrimination Act by placing it in context with contemporary race discrimination legislation in other global jurisdictions.

The Partnerships Advancing Community Engagement program involves Rotary clubs collaborating with community members and agencies on long-term sustainable projects to address disadvantage. This review of four projects undertaken in Melbourne shows how members used their skills and their networks to empower local communities.

Current research has identified that most of Australia's CBD stock, constructed in the 1970's, is entering a phase of retrofitting. Most of this existing stock performs poorly against sustainability benchmarks and there is huge scope for improving the sustainability of the existing commercial building stock in Australia.

Bowel cancer is the second most common cause of death from cancer in Australia. This report presents the most recent information on participation in bowel screening, cancer detection, program sensitivity and rescreening rates.

The National Code aims to encourage a nationally consistent approach to legislation and guidance material to prevent fatalities and injuries among those who work with and around tilt-up and precast concrete elements.

This report details a pilot project that was offered to young refugees attending three secondary schools in the eastern region of Melbourne.

This report examines the scale of the illegal timber trade in the Asia-Pacific region, encompassing the processes and current trends in logging, sourcing, trafficking, manufacturing, importing and consumption of illegal timber and timber products.

In its response to the Ministerial Council on Energy's cost-benefit analysis of a national rollout of Smart Meters, PIAC endorses the report's recommendation that a rollout should be led by distribution businesses and that greater consumer protections be implemented before a rollout takes place.

Current debate on policy surrounding child poverty in Australia fails to include the perspective of children themselves. This summary paper reports on the Children's Lived Experience of Poverty Project.

This publication reports on Commonwealth State Housing Agreement private rent assistance. It presents the data items and performance indicators collected to meet the requirements of the CSHA national performance reporting framework.

This project focuses on supporting the delivery of Triple P - Positive Parenting Program - to Aboriginal and Torres families.

There have been improvements across many areas for Indigenous people, including a fall in unemployment, according to an analysis of 2006 Census data by the ABS. However, there is much catching up still to occur, when compared with the non-Indigenous population.

This report finds that there are significant and urgent challenges to the security and sustainability of the food system. It also identifies many opportunities for technological and social innovation to reduce exposure to environmental risks and resource constraints.

There have been improvements across many areas for Indigenous people, including a fall in unemployment, according to an analysis of 2006 Census data by the ABS. However, there is much catching up still to occur, when compared with the non-Indigenous population.

This paper reviews recent demographic, social and economic trends in rural, regional and remote Australia in order to provide the contextual background to service delivery in the region.

This submission welcomes the Bill and supports its broad objectives of providing reparations to indigenous Australians who were directly affected by Australian governments' policies of removing indigenous and part-indigenous children from their parents.

This paper provides an economic perspective on the prevention of chronic diseases, focusing in particular on diseases linked to lifestyle choices. The proposed economic framework is centred on the hypothesis that the prevention of chronic diseases may provide the means for increasing social welfare and/or enhancing health equity.

This report summarises the major changes in forest use and management since the National Forestry Policy Statement was agreed in 1992.

Between 2000?01 and 2004?05 the total amount of funding for road-related expenditure by the Australian, state, territory and local governments increased by an average of 2.8 per cent per year in nominal terms. This information paper updates the funding of road-related expenditure to 2004-05 and Australian government road expenditure by program to 2005-06.

This report investigates the possible future impacts of climate change on Australia's National Reserve System (NRS), and the consequences of these impacts for the development and management of the reserve system.

This submission concentrates on how low-income households might be compensated for higher electricity prices following the recommendations of the Garnaut Climate Change Review.

This plan outlines the methodology for the evaluation of the Integrated Rehabilitation and Recovery Care Project (IRRCP). The evaluation will research the implementation, process and outcomes of the program.

This report looks at the factors associated with the persistent underrepresentation of people from low socioeconomic backgrounds and Indigenous people in Australian universities with a view to informing policies and strategies and providing a framework for further analysis of equity.

This report documents a study of the role and use of e-learning in training for mature age workers, and to identify good practice in Australia.

The government is committed to the establishment of a Register of Lobbyists that will enable ministers and other government representatives who are approached by third party lobbyists to establish whose interests the lobbyist represents. This is a draft of the Code for public comment.

The purpose of this discussion paper is to seek views on the implementation of the federal government's election
commitment to double the number of Commonwealth Scholarships to 88,000 by 2012 through the introduction of new Commonwealth Scholarships under Scholarships for a Competitive Future.

This Policy Analysis suggests that both Australia and NATO have to think harder about their emerging partnership.

This report contains the Commission's latest quantitative estimates of Australian government assistance to industry. It also examines recent developments in assistance in various sectors of the economy and outlines some recent international policy developments affecting Australia's trade.

The Cabinet Secretary, Senator John Faulkner, released an exposure draft of the proposed Lobbying Code of Conduct on 2 April 2008. In this Audit Discussion Paper John Warhurst assesses the proposal.

This report provides data to enable ongoing comparisons of the efficiency and effectiveness of Commonwealth and State
government services, including intra-government services.

The Migration Act requires that a non-citizen who is detained is liable to pay the Australian government the costs of detention. But the Department of Immigration and Citizenship may write off a person?s debt or agree to a waiver of the debt. This investigation found that the department is administering waiver and write-off according to the legislative and policy requirements, but identified scope for improvement in procedures.

This publication presents summary information relating to the tenancy and property management of the Crisis Accommodation Program collected to meet the requirements of the Commonwealth State Housing Agreement national performance reporting framework.

With the numeracy and literacy skills of five-year-olds, ten thousand indigenous teenagers and young men and women are unemployable because of the educational failures of the last decade.

Behavioural economics reveals conventional economics to be normative rather than positive. Economists' belief in individualism, freedom of choice and a limited role for government rest more heavily on the assumption of rationality than most realise. The insights of behavioural economics may be used to reframe essentially unchanged policy prescriptions to make them more politically palatable, or to change the policies being prescribed.

In June 2003 the Crime and Misconduct Commission presented its report 'Seeking justice' which made 23 recommendations for reform of the criminal justice system. The current report reviews the implementation of those recommendations.

Global environmental change is threatening the health and survival of humankind ? are we doing enough to ensure the environmental and social bases for health?

Nuclear power development in the region faces questions about its economics and safety, as well as nuclear weapons non-proliferation.

This paper presents some preliminary thoughts on a new project examining the challenges for Indigenous enterprises that profit from the sale of alcohol.

This report, prepared for the Perth City Council, shows that in 2006 Metropolitan Perth's Creative Industry (CI) segments employed almost 40,000 people and contributed $4.6bn to the local economy.

Held on 24-25 September 2007, the conferences covered a wide range of areas including ICT, digital media, telecommunications broadcasting, communications culture, Internet and e-commerce. Papers are available in a single volume online.