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National Commission Of Audit
The National Commission of Audit was a commission formed by the Abbott Government on 22 October 2013 as an independent body to review and report on the performance, functions and roles of the Commonwealth government. The chair of the Commission was Tony Shepherd AO who is a former head of the Business Council of Australia. The other Commissioners were Peter Boxall AO, Tony Cole AO, Robert Fisher AM and Amanda Vanstone. The Terms of Reference for the Commission was to make recommendations to return the budget to a sustainable surplus of 1% of GDP by 2023/24. The Commission was not asked to examine the revenue side of the budget, though it looked at some revenue issues. The Commission's report was the first full scale review of government expenditures for 18 years. Recommendations The Commission Report was titled ''Towards Responsible Government'' and published in two parts. Phase One Report, published in February 2014, dealt predominantly with improving the sustainability of finan ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Means Test
A means test is a determination of whether an individual or family is eligible for government assistance or welfare, based upon whether the individual or family possesses the means to do without that help. Canada In Canada, means tests are used for student finance (for post-secondary education), legal aid, and "welfare" (direct transfer payments to individuals to combat poverty). They are not generally used for primary and secondary education which are tax-funded. Means tests for public health insurance were once common but are now illegal, as the Canada Health Act of 1984 requires that all the provinces provide universal healthcare coverage to be eligible for subsidies from the federal government. Means tests are also not used for pensions and seniors' benefits, but there is a clawback of Old Age Security payments for people making over $69,562 (in 2012). The Last Post Fund uses a means test on a deceased veteran's estate and surviving widow to determine whether they are eligi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fiscal Imbalance In Australia
The fiscal imbalance in Australia is the disparity between the revenue generation ability of the three levels of governments in Australia relative to their spending obligations; but in Australia the term is commonly used to refer more specifically to the vertical fiscal imbalance, the discrepancy between the federal government's extensive capacity to raise revenue and the responsibility of the States to provide most public services, such as physical infrastructure, health care, education etc., despite having only limited capacity to raise their own revenue. In Australia, vertical fiscal imbalance is addressed by the transfer of funds as grants from the federal government to the states and territories. Vertical fiscal imbalance Vertical fiscal imbalance in Australia is largely the product of the Commonwealth's takeover of income taxes in 1942, during World War II, and rulings of the High Court of Australia that made various state taxes unconstitutional under the Australian Consti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Age
''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and border regions of South Australia and southern New South Wales. It is delivered both in print and digital formats. The newspaper shares some articles with its sister newspaper ''The Sydney Morning Herald''. ''The Age'' is considered a newspaper of record for Australia, and has variously been known for its investigative reporting, with its journalists having won dozens of Walkley Awards, Australia's most prestigious journalism prize. , ''The Age'' had a monthly readership of 5.321 million. History Foundation ''The Age'' was founded by three Melbourne businessmen: brothers John and Henry Cooke (who had arrived from New Zealand in the 1840s) and Walter Powell. The first edition appeared on 17 October 1854. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
2014 Australian Federal Budget
The 2014 Australian federal budget was the federal budget to fund government services and operations for the 2014/15 financial year. The 2014 budget was the first delivered by the Abbott Government, since the Coalition's victory in the 2013 Australian federal election. Treasurer Joe Hockey presented the budget to the House of Representatives on 13 May 2014. The budget featured significant changes to address a perceived deficit crisis. This included a proposed dramatic downsizing of government bureaucracy, and contained significant changes to welfare, new initiatives for a medical research fund and spending on roads. A budget surplus exceeding 1% of GDP was not expected until 2023. The austere budget faced widespread criticism and was overwhelmingly rejected by the Australian public as reflected in all opinion polls after its release. Opposition to "unfair" budget measures came from the opposition and cross-bench, pensioners, economists, the union movement, students and welfa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Copayment
A copayment or copay (called a gap in Australian English) is a fixed amount for a covered service, paid by a patient to the provider of service before receiving the service. It may be defined in an insurance policy and paid by an insured person each time a medical service is accessed. It is technically a form of coinsurance, but is defined differently in health insurance where a coinsurance is a percentage payment after the deductible up to a certain limit. It must be paid before any policy benefit is payable by an insurance company. Copayments do not usually contribute towards any policy out-of-pocket maximum, whereas coinsurance payments do. Insurance companies use copayments to share health care costs to prevent moral hazard. It may be a small portion of the actual cost of the medical service but is meant to deter people from seeking medical care that may not be necessary, e.g., an infection by the common cold. In health systems with prices below the market clearing level in wh ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Medicare (Australia)
Medicare is the publicly-funded universal health care insurance scheme in Australia, operated by the nation's social security department, Services Australia. Medicare is the principal way Australian citizens and permanent residents access most health care services in Australia. The scheme either partially or fully cover the cost of most primary health care services in the public and private health care system. All Australian citizens and permanent residents have access to fully covered health care in public hospitals, funded by Medicare (through the National Health Pool), as well as state and federal contributions. International visitors from 11 countries have subsidised access to medically necessary treatment under reciprocal agreements. Many specialties and allied health services are partially covered by Medicare, including psychology and psychiatry, ophthalmology, physiotherapy and audiology, with the exception of dental services. The list of services covered, the standa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bulk Billing
Bulk billing is a payment option under the Medicare system of universal health insurance in Australia. It can cover a prescribed range of health services as listed in the Medicare Benefits Schedule, at the discretion of the health service provider. The health service provider - usually a doctor - is paid 85% of the scheduled fee for outpatient services; and 75% of the scheduled fee for inpatient services, by billing the government via the patient's Medicare card. The service provider receives a fixed proportion of the scheduled fee but avoids the costs and risks of billing and debt collection. It could be described as a form of factoring. Bulk billing rebates may be collected and paid directly to the service provider, or the service provider may collect the equivalent fee from the patient; leaving the patient to claim the rebate online, over the telephone, by mail, or at a Medicare office. Increasingly, service providers offer electronic lodgement at the practice using EFTPOS. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Average Weekly Earnings
In the United Kingdom and in Australia, the Average Weekly Earnings (AWE) is the lead indicator of short-term changes in earnings. In the UK, it replaced the Average Earnings Index (AEI) as the lead measure of short-term earnings growth in January 2010. In Australia, the average weekly earnings is calculated and published twice-yearly by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It looks at weekly earnings across states and territories; industries; and public and private sectors. The ABS Average Weekly Earnings survey is designed to measure the level of average earnings in Australia at a point in time. Movements in average weekly earnings can be affected by changes in both the level of earnings per employee and in the composition of the labour force. Factors which can contribute to compositional change include variations in the proportion of full-time, part-time, casual and junior employees; variations in the occupational distribution within and across industries; and variations in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tony Shepherd (businessman)
Anthony "Tony" Shepherd (born 5th June 1944, Melbourne) is an Australian businessman. The first 15 years of his career were in the Australian Public Service. He joined Transfield Services in 1979, going on to become chairman of the Transfield board. Shepherd resigned from Transfield in 2013. He is currently Chair of the Boards of the Greater Western Sydney Giants, the Australian Subscription Television and Radio Association and the Sydney Cricket Ground Trust. Career Tony Shepherd was educated at CBC St Kilda in Melbourne and started his career as a federal public servant while studying commerce part-time at the University of Melbourne. He worked in defence procurement in Canberra and for three years in Washington DC in the 1970s. On return to Australia in 1973 he joined the National Pipeline Authority under energy minister Rex Connor. He worked on the development of the Moomba to Sydney Pipeline during this time. He spent a total of 15 years as a public servant. In 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Amanda Vanstone
Amanda Eloise Vanstone (née O'Brien; born 7 December 1952) is an Australian former politician and a former Ambassador to Italy. She was a Liberal Senator for South Australia from 1984 to 2007, and held several ministerial portfolios in the Howard Government. After her resignation from the Senate in 2007, she served as the Australian Ambassador to Italy until July 2010. Her time as Minister for Immigration was marked by controversies within the Department of Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs.Dornin, Tim. "'It's done', Vanstone ends her political career", Australian Associated Press, 26 April 2007. Early life Vanstone was born Amanda Eloise O'Brien on 7 December 1952 in Adelaide, South Australia. She is the youngest of four children. Her father died when she was three. Her mother remarried soon afterwards, but not long after this her stepfather also died. She was educated at the St Peter's Collegiate Girls' School. Vanstone has said that she does not de ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Robert Fisher (businessman)
Robert Fisher may refer to: Politicians * Robert Fisher (MP) (1465–1535), in 1529 MP for Rochester * Robert F. Fisher (1879–1969), member of the California legislature * Robert Fisher (Tennessee politician) (1925–1989), American politician expelled from the Tennessee legislature * Robert Fisher (New Hampshire politician), member of the New Hampshire legislature 2014–2017 Artists and musicians * Robert Fisher (playwright) (1922–2008), American playwright * Robert M. Fisher (1928–2007), American artist * Rob Fisher (British musician) (1956–1999), British keyboardist and songwriter * Robert Fisher (c.1957–2017), American vocalist and songwriter from Willard Grant Conspiracy * Rob Fisher (conductor), American music director, conductor, arranger and pianist Others * Robert Fisher (priest) (fl. 1490s – 1510s), Canon of Windsor * Robert Fisher (UK academic) (born 1943), interest in teaching philosophy to children * Robert Fisher (university president) (born c. 1948), pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
