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Annual Report 2013-14 (October 2014)

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Annual Report 2013-14 (October 2014) Annual Report Productivity Commission 2014-15 Annual Report Series Commonwealth of Australia 2015 ISSN 2205-5681 (online) ISSN 2205-5673 (print) Except for the Commonwealth Coat of Arms and content supplied by third parties, this copyright work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/au. In essence, you are free to copy, communicate and adapt the work, as long as you attribute the work to the Productivity Commission (but not in any way that suggests the Commission endorses you or your use) and abide by the other licence terms. Use of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms For terms of use of the Coat of Arms visit the ‘It’s an Honour’ website: http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au Third party copyright Wherever a third party holds copyright in this material, the copyright remains with that party. Their permission may be required to use the material, please contact them directly. Attribution This work should be attributed as follows, Source: Productivity Commission, Annual Report 2014-15. If you have adapted, modified or transformed this work in anyway, please use the following, Source: based on Productivity Commission data, Annual Report 2014-15. An appropriate reference for this publication is: Productivity Commission 2015, Annual Report 2014-15, Annual Report Series, Canberra. Publications enquiries Media and Publications, phone: (03) 9653 2244 or email: [email protected] The Productivity Commission The Productivity Commission is the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory body on a range of economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians. Its role, expressed most simply, is to help governments make better policies, in the long term interest of the Australian community. The Commission’s independence is underpinned by an Act of Parliament. Its processes and outputs are open to public scrutiny and are driven by concern for the wellbeing of the community as a whole. Further information on the Productivity Commission can be obtained from the Commission’s website (www.pc.gov.au). Signing letter Chairman and Commissioners Acknowledgments In memory of former Commissioner Helen Owens (1948 – 2014) and former long-term Commission official Steven Argy (1962 – 2015). The Commission wishes to thank its staff for their continued efforts, commitment and support during the past year. Foreword 2014-15 saw the Commission commence six new inquiries or studies and complete five commissioned in 2013-14. Government has responded to two of the completed inquiries. We also completed our second Flagship research project on Public Housing Assistance and Employment. It provided a surprising conclusion, somewhat against prevailing thinking, demonstrating the better understanding that can be had if governments and Departments would invest more in making major holdings of administrative data accessible. The Commission also initiated and completed policy-relevant research on superannuation policy post-retirement - asking and answering when and how people access their super and the policy implications. The report concluded that there remains a need, not immediate but near term, for a holistic review of retirement incomes policies. We held a health roundtable involving 25 practitioners and experts and providing 22 proposals for immediate efficiency gains in this crucial area. One proposal has been clearly taken up. More may be under consideration. The Trade and Assistance Review, a long-established statutory publication on the use of trade policy and industry assistance, received slightly more than usual attention in an environment of promotion of the benefits of bilateral preferential trade agreements and the mooted Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The debate was also characterised by a lack of transparent and robust analysis, a vacuum consequently filled at times by misleading claims. The lack of awareness in the community of the nature of bilateral agreements remains at this time a matter of some contention, as it has been from time to time throughout the history of the Productivity Commission and its forebears. It would be consistent with the Australian economic record of success via relatively open multilateral processes and Economic Statements explaining (occasional) unilateral reduction in trade and other barriers to improve public awareness through development and release of relevant analysis in advance of policy outcomes. History, however, also indicates that change in this area is often not immediate. Peter Harris Chair FOREWORD vii Contents Acknowledgments vi Foreword vii Abbreviations x 1 Review of Commission activities and performance 1 Overview 2 Year in review 4 Transparency and public consultation 9 Feedback on the Commission’s work 12 Policy and wider impacts 12 Trends in inquiries and studies 16 Associated reporting 18 Appendices A Management and accountability 19 B Government commissioned projects 41 C Research and related activities 57 D Publications 73 E Financial statements 77 References 121 Index 135 CONTENTS ix Abbreviations ABS Australian Bureau of Statistics ACCC Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ACCI Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry AGCNCO Australian Government Competitive Neutrality Complaints Office AIHW Australian Institute of Health and Welfare ALGA Australian Local Government Association ANAO Australian National Audit Office ANU Australian National University ANZSIC Australian and New Zealand Standard Industrial Classification ANZSOG Australia and New Zealand School of Government APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation APRA Australian Prudential Regulation Authority APS Australian Public Service BRCWG Business Regulation and Competition Working Group (COAG) CEDA Committee for Economic Development of Australia COAG Council of Australian Governments CRC COAG Reform Council EFIC Export Finance and Investment Corporation GDP Gross Domestic Product GTAP Global Trade Analysis Project GTEs Government trading enterprises HILDA Household, Income and Labour Dynamics IAC Industries Assistance Commission IC Industry Commission ICTs Information and communication technologies IMF International Monetary Fund LP labour productivity MFP multifactor productivity NATSEM National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling NBN National Broadband Network x ANNUAL REPORT 2014-15 NCP National Competition Policy NRA National Reform Agenda OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development OHS Occupation health and safety OID Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage report PBS Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme PC Productivity Commission RBA Reserve Bank of Australia R&D Research and development ROGS Report on Government Services SES Senior Executive Service TCF Textiles, clothing and footwear ABBREVIATIONS xi 1 Review of Commission activities and performance Some highlights from 2014-15 • published government-commissioned reports on: – Childcare and early childhood learning – Access to justice – Natural disaster funding – Public infrastructure – Costs of doing business in dairy manufacturing and retail trade • published a second flagship research report, on housing assistance and employment • held a roundtable on efficiency in health • released research papers on gas markets, international tourism, international education services, and superannuation policy • published the twentieth edition of the annual Report on Government Services and the latest editions of the Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage: Key Indicators report and the Indigenous Expenditure Report • released a variety of other supporting research, including papers on productivity measurement and concepts Some areas of focus for 2015-16 • current inquiries and government-commissioned research: – Workplace relations framework – Migrant intake into Australia – Business set-up, transfer and closure – Public safety mobile broadband – Service exports – Mutual recognition schemes – Intellectual property arrangements • a third flagship research paper on the housing choices of older Australians • Report on Government Services • research on taxes and transfers and Anti-Dumping arrangements PROGRAM PERFORMANCE 1 Overview The Productivity Commission is the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory body on a range of economic, social and environmental issues affecting the welfare of Australians. Its remit covers all sectors of the economy, with a view to better informing policy making to raise national productivity and living standards. The outcome objective designated for the Productivity Commission is: Well-informed policy decision making and public understanding on matters relating to Australia’s productivity and living standards, based on independent and transparent analysis from a community-wide perspective. The Commission pursues this in four broad work streams: • government-commissioned inquiries or studies • other research projects and a statutory analysis of industry support • performance reporting and related analysis of Commonwealth and State service provision • competitive neutrality complaints (figure 1.1). Appendices B, C and D provide further detail on recent projects. The Commission also gained responsibility for a number of important new water reporting and inquiry functions. This includes conducting periodic inquiries on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and water resource plans; and periodic inquiries on progress towards achieving the objectives and outcomes of the National Water Initiative. 2 ANNUAL REPORT
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