Grattan Institute

Australia’s budgets are under pressure. Debt is rising, interest bills are climbing, and the costs of an ageing population and climate change are getting bigger. So how did we get here? And what would it take to fix it? The biggest challenges now sit in state budgets, and the GST is no longer doing the job it was designed to do. In this podcast, Grattan Economic Prosperity Deputy Program Director Erin-Lea Brown talks to Senior Associate Matthew Bowes about our report, Budget reboot: How to fund Australia’s future, which sets out a plan to repair budgets through stronger fiscal rules, a bigger and broader GST, and a new deal between federal and state governments. Read our report: grattan.edu.au/report/budget-reboot-how-to-fund-australias-future/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan’s news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

Political parties spent almost half a billion dollars in the year leading up to the 2025 federal election. Big-money campaigns mean politicians spend more time chasing donations, and risk giving major donors more influence over policy. From next year, new rules will finally put a ceiling on money in Australian politics — but that ceiling is set far too high. In our latest podcast, Grattan researcher Thomas Shortridge talks to our democracy expert Kate Griffiths about her policy brief, 'Decoupling money from power: Getting electoral expenditure caps right', and what a better cap on election spending would look like. Read the policy brief: https://grattan.edu.au/news/decoupling-money-from-power/

Every night, thousands of car spaces across Australia’s cities sit empty. This is the result of state and local governments requiring new housing projects to include off-street parking at rates much higher than residents want or need. In this podcast, Grattan housing expert Matthew Bowes talks to co-author Ashleigh Chang about our report, ‘Wasted space: Axe car-parking rules to ease the housing crisis’, and how can we better manage parking in our cities and get more homes built for less. Read our report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/wasted-space-axe-car-parking-rules-to-ease-the-housing-crisis/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports, and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/ 7f2a6740-b0c4-11f1-b1b1-8106510378ab

Paid work can be a pathway to independence, purpose, and connection — but Australians with disability are far less likely to be employed than everyone else, especially those with high support needs. Many who do work are paid well below the minimum wage, some as little as $3.31 an hour. How do we build a system for disabled workers that opens up better jobs and fairer wages? In this podcast, Grattan Associate Ben Jefferson talks to Grattan Disability Program Director Sam Bennett and Senior Associate Owain Emslie about our report, Opening doors: Better jobs and fairer wages for disabled workers, which sets out a pragmatic path to better employment outcomes for disabled people with high support needs — while ensuring no one is left behind. Read our report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/opening-doors-better-jobs-and-fairer-wages-for-disabled-workers/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

Australians visit the pharmacy more than any other health service. But what's happening behind the scenes? How does the price you pay at the counter get set? How's the pharmacy sector funded? For years, decisions about pharmacy policy have been made through closed-door negotiations. In this podcast, Grattan Associate Reilly Polaschek talks to Grattan Health Program Director Peter Breadon about our report, Future pharmacy: A better deal for patients and taxpayers which charts a path to a fairer, more efficient pharmacy sector. Read our report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/future-pharmacy-a-better-deal-for-patients-and-taxpayers/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

The NDIS is one of the central fiscal bets of the federal budget. In this podcast, our disability experts discuss what the government's proposed reforms will really cost — and what needs to change. In this podcast, Grattan Senior Associate Hannah Orban talks to Grattan Disability Program Director Sam Bennett and Grattan Associate Reilly Polaschek about the NDIS reform bill and the Senate inquiry extension. Read our submission to the Senate Inquiry:https://grattan.edu.au/news/saving-the-ndis/ Read our Disability research: https://grattan.edu.au/disability/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

The Grattan energy team is back with a new podcast on their latest report, Out of gas: Managing the decline of gas in Australia. In this episode, our energy experts dig into the detail of their longest report yet. Joining the conversation are report authors Alison Reeve, Program Director; Hamish McKenzie, Deputy Program Director; and Associate Ben Jefferson. Read the report: grattan.edu.au/report/out-of-gas…gas-in-australia/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

Managing the decline of gas in Australia is a multi-decade challenge. In this podcast, our energy experts detail the the tough decisions Australia has to make. In this podcast, Grattan Associate Molly Chapman talks to Grattan Energy Program Director Alison Reeve about our report, Out of gas: Managing the decline of gas in Australia. Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/out-of-gas-managing-the-decline-of-gas-in-australia/ Thanks for listening to the Grattan Podcast. Our research, reports and analysis are freely available thanks to the donations of listeners like you. Please consider making a regular or one-off donation at grattan.edu.au/donate. You can follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram, and sign up to our newsletter on our website to stay up to date with Grattan's news. Thanks again for listening. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grattaninstitute/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/grattan-institute/

On Tuesday, 12th of May, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers handed down his fifth budget under the Albanese government. What did Grattan's experts make of this year's Budget, and what was left on the cutting room floor? The Grattan Podcast is produced by the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank focused on Australian public policy. Subscribe for expert analysis on the issues shaping Australia's future.

With the 2026 federal budget just two weeks away, Grattan Institute CEO Dr. Aruna Sathanapally joins Deputy Program Director of Energy and Climate Change Hamish McKenzie to unpack what could be one of the most consequential budgets in a generation. Against a backdrop of war, a global energy crisis, and rising inflation, the government faces a set of colliding imperatives: steady the ship or seize the moment for long-overdue reform. With a thumping majority and an opposition in disarray, the Albanese government has a window for change. But will it take it? Read Aruna's article in The Australian Financial Review here: https://grattan.edu.au/news/we-need-restraint-not-a-razor The Grattan Podcast is produced by the Grattan Institute, an independent think tank focused on Australian public policy. Subscribe for expert analysis on the issues shaping Australia's future.