For most eligible voters who started primary school after 1986, the proposed referendum on the First Nations Voice to Parliament will be their first time participating in such an event. This Flagpost article explores the state of civics knowledge for first-time referendum voters. Read more...
For eligible voters born since 7 November 1981, the proposed referendum on the First Nations Voice to Parliament is shaping up to be their first time participating in such an event. As at 31 March 2023, these first-time referendum voters (AEC age groups 18 to 39) make up approximately 35% of the electoral roll. This Flagpost article focusses on the Government’s civics education and awareness program (the program), to be rolled out in the lead up to the proposed referendum and uses examples of similar previous initiatives that illustrate what we might expect. Read more...
On 1 June 2023 some 3 million Australians, owing over $74 billion, had their outstanding student loan debt increased by 7.1%. It comes as average loan debts have increased over the decade to 2021–22 from $15,200 to $24,800 (derived from Table 6). The high rate of indexation this year has led to calls for change by the Greens and the crossbench, while the Opposition has called for ‘urgent action’ to address the issue. So how did we get here? Read more...
Federal redistribution processes provide an opportunity to introduce new electorate names, either by renaming existing electorates or naming new ones. Recent redistribution processes, including those in Victoria and Western Australia in 2021, have included calls for more diverse electorate names to honour more women and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This Flagpost article examines the electorate naming processes, current levels of diversity, and commentary advocating for change. Read more...
This month focuses on the following topics: sources of income, cost of living and child maltreatment. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail.
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On 9 May 1988, 35 years ago, Australia’s Parliament House was opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The opening echoed the date of both the inaugural opening of the Commonwealth Parliament at the Exhibition Building in Melbourne and the opening of the Provisional Parliament House in Canberra, on 9 May in 1901 and 1927 respectively. This Flagpost article revisits the construction of new Parliament House. Read more...
This month focuses on the following topics: mothers and babies, poverty, housing and gambling statistics. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date JSA (a) Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation, April 2023 3 May ANZ ANZ Job Advertisement 2 May ABS Microdata: ... Read more...
Australia and Vietnam have fostered a strong relationship over the past 50 years that has garnered benefits across areas of strategic and mutual interest, from trade and investment, defence and security, knowledge and innovation transfer, to development assistance. This solid base has led to the 2 nations discussing the upgrade of their relationship to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership (CSP). Read more...
This month focuses on domestic and family violence. Forthcoming releases If you are interested in any of the forthcoming releases or datasets, please contact the Parliamentary Library to discuss in more detail. Statistical reports Release date JSA (a) Nowcast of Employment by Region and Occupation, February 2023 5 April ABS Buildin... Read more...
This Flagpost looks at changes in different generation’s first preference votes to the major parties over the past eight House of Representatives elections, based on Australian Election Survey (AES) data. The AES (run by the Australian National University) has conducted post-election sample surveys after every federal election since 1987. While (the many) pre-election opinion polls capture voter intention, post-election surveys more accurately identify who actually voted for whom. Methodology and notes are below the final chart (Figure 5). First preferences by party and generation As an introduction, Figure 1 shows the AES results to the four groups at the 2022 election by generation. ... Read more...
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