The Australia Institute

The Australia Institute

Abbreviation	The Australia Institute
Formation	4 May 1994; 30 years ago (4 May 1994)
Type	Public policy think tank
Director	Richard Denniss
Website	www.australiainstitute.org.au

The Australia Institute is an Australian public policy think tank based in Canberra, with offices also in Hobart and Adelaide. Since its launch in 1994, it has carried out research on a broad range of economic, social, and environmental issues. The Australia Institute states that it takes a bipartisan approach to research, but has been described as a "progressive" or "left-leaning.^[1]" This may be because a number of current and previous senior employees of the Australia Institute have also worked with the Australian Greens or other environmental organisations. This includes the founder and former director of the institute Clive Hamilton (who ran as a Greens candidate), former Director Ben Oquist and current Executive Director Richard Denniss (who both worked for Australian Greens leader Bob Brown), Deputy Director Ebony Bennett (who worked as a Greens media advisor^[2]), Chief-of-Staff Anna Chang (who was a media and campaigns advisor to the Australian Greens) and ex-regulatory lead Dan Cass (who was a Greens campaign manager and office bearer^[3]).

Ex-Director and Deputy Chair of the Australia Institute (2004–2022), Professor Barbara Pocock, was also elected as an Australian Green Senator for South Australia in 2022.

The Australia Institute undertakes economic analysis with special emphasis on the role of the public sector as well as issues such as taxation, inequality, including gender inequality, poverty, privatisation, foreign investment, and corporate power. Some of the Australia Institute's contributions involve analysis of modelling exercises on the part of other groups. This includes assessing some of the pandemic modelling^[4] as well as the modelling behind the government's intergenerational report.^[5] The fiscal response has prompted attention to the tax base, and so the Australia Institute described the principles of a good tax^[6] and a report on how to make the budget less sexist.^[7] These are some of the topics among the hundreds of reports on economic issues generally.  

The Australia Institute has been producing research in the climate and energy space since 1994.^[8] In 2017, The Australia Institute took over the work of the Climate Institute, including continuing the Climate of the Nation report, the longest continuous survey of community attitudes to climate change in Australia.^[9] The Australia Institute also publishes the National Energy Emissions Audit.^[10]

The Australia Institute's Democracy & Accountability Program was established to "research the solutions to our democratic deficit and develop the political strategies to put them into practice".^[11] Issues pursued by the program include truth in political advertising laws,^[12] how state and federal governments have handled the COVID-19 pandemic,^[13] and freedom of information laws.^[14]

In October 2019, The Australia Institute established the International and Security Affairs Program to examine "the global connectivity that both underpins and impacts on Australia’s place in the world and the well-being of our citizens".^[15] The program addresses a broad range of contemporary global issues, including new thinking on what security means,^[16] a contemporary Middle east policy,^[17] the proper use of the defence force,^[18] the ANZUS treaty,^[19] Australia's relations with China,^[20] and how Australia might improve its performance in the Pacific.^[21]

The Australia Institute's researchers are prominent commentators on public policy issues, including work on climate change and energy, emissions trading, taxation policy, and inequality.

Clive Hamilton helped establish The Australia Institute in 1994 to generate public debate on building a better society, in particular the environment.^[22] It was formally established on 4 May 1994.^[23] The first directors of the institute were Professor Max Neutze (inaugural chair);^[24] Hugh Saddler, a consultant in energy policy; and John Langmore; then a Labor Party MP; John Neville; Russell Rollason, then executive director of the Australian Council for Overseas Aid; Elizabeth Reid, the former first women's adviser to the prime minister Gough Whitlam in 1973; Barbara Spalding, an expert in social welfare and education; and Professor Marion Simms, an expert in the fields of gender studies and political science.^{[citation needed]}

Hamilton was the executive director until his resignation in 2008. He was succeeded in the role by Richard Denniss, who stepped down in 2015 to take up the role of chief economist.^[25]

Ben Oquist was executive director from 2015 to 2022. He was succeeded by Richard Denniss, who returned to the role in 2022.^{[citation needed]}

The Australia Institute takes a bipartisan approach to research, but has been described as a "progressive" or "left-leaning" think-tank.^[26][27]

The Australia Institute is active in promoting global warming mitigation measures, and has been critical of the Australian federal government's perceived lack of action on climate change. The Australia Institute was critical of the Howard government's decision to refuse to ratify the Kyoto Protocol. It claims that the former Prime Minister and some senior ministers deny the scientific evidence for global warming and that the resources sector drives government energy policy. Leaked minutes of a meeting between the Energy Minister, the Prime Minister and fossil fuel lobbyists provide evidence for these claims.^[28][29]

The Australia Institute has been active in promoting renewable energy development, and other mitigation measures, and it has campaigned strongly against developing a nuclear industry in Australia.^[30]

The Australia Institute criticised the Rudd Government's proposed Australian emissions trading scheme (or Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme), arguing that it failed to adequately take into account voluntary action and delivered excessive compensation to polluting industries.^[31]

The Australia Institute spoke positively of the design of the carbon price mechanism implemented by the Gillard government, arguing that beginning with a fixed price and transitioning to an emissions trading scheme made sense given that there was no consensus about what the emissions reduction target should be.^[32]

In 2014, Ben Oquist (then the Australia Institute's strategy director) was involved in the Palmer United Party's decision to vote against the abolition of the Renewable Energy Target, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and the Climate Change Authority.^[33] Oquist wrote that "The Australia Institute is disappointed that the carbon price is likely to be repealed" but that "The Palmer-Gore announcement has re-set climate policy and politics. Keeping the CCA, the RET and the CEFC is much more than most expected from the PUP. We have avoided a big step backwards."^[34]

In 2017, the Australia Institute reported that Australia's greenhouse gas emissions were "rising rapidly" since the abolition of the carbon price, with economist Matt Grudnoff criticising the National Energy Guarantee proposed by the Turnbull government, saying that it would be "likely to cause our emissions to rise even faster".^[35]

In 2017, The Australia Institute took over The Climate Institute's intellectual property after that institute closed, and subsequently launched a Climate and Energy Program to continue the work.^[36][37] The first Climate of the Nation report produced by The Australia Institute was released in 2018.^[38]

The Australia Institute employs several economists^[39] who have published papers arguing for tax reform, particularly in the areas of superannuation tax concessions, negative gearing, capital gains tax, and goods and services tax.^[40]

During the 2016 Australian federal election, the Institute published a series of critiques of the Coalition's proposed policy of cutting the company tax rate.^[41]

The Australia Institute criticised the final two stages of the Turnbull government's three-stage income tax cut plan, releasing research into how the benefits from the tax cut are distributed by income^[42] and electorate.^[43]

The Australia Institute had a total gross income A$9.05 million in 2023^[44] (A$7.7M in 2022, and A$7M in 2021) and is funded by donations from philanthropic trusts and individuals, as well as grants and commissioned research from business, unions, and non-government organisations. The Australia Institute reported 34 full-time equivalent staff in 2023.^[44]

In its first decade through to 2003, the Australia Institute was largely funded by the Poola Foundation and the Treepot Foundation—philanthropic organisations run by the Kantors.^[45] Other significant funders include the McKinnon Family Foundation; David Morawetz's Social Justice Fund, a sub-fund of the Australian Communities Foundation; Diana and Brian Snape, and the Susan McKinnon Foundation.^[46]

In recent years, the Australia Institute has reported the number of donations it has received from individuals, with 2,000 individual donors in financial year 2015^[47] and 2,700 in the financial year 2017.^[48]

The Australia Institute does not accept donations or commissioned work from political parties.^[49]

Former board members include:

• List of Australian think tanks

• www.australiainstitute.org.au