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  MAY 24, 2011 The CFI laid bare During the 2010 election, the Government announced that, if re-elected, it would introduce a new program, the Carbon Farming Initiative (CFI), to pay landholders for helping to reduce atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations. On 24 March 2011, legislation for the CFI and two

  APRIL 20, 2011 Regional labour market statistics - March 2011 The March regional labour force data reveal that employment levels have grown and unemployment rates have fallen across most of Australia. However, for some regions things remain difficult as they struggle to provide enough jobs for their local labour

FEBRUARY 18, 2011 Will access to ‘gap year’ Youth Allowance improve regional students participation in higher education? In the recent Senate debate on Senator Nash's private member’s bill to extend the criteria for Independent Youth Allowance to Inner Regional students the issue of why so few regional students go on

FEBRUARY 4, 2011 Opposition Youth Allowance Bill inquiry to report next week An issue facing Parliament on return next week will be the Youth Allowance. The Senate may need to decide if it will debate the Private Member’s Bill introduced by Senator Nash in October last year. The Social Security

    ISBN 1834‐9854  Parliament of Australia Department of Parliamentary Services   RESEARCH PAPER NO. 9, 2010-11  12 January 2011 Marketing obesity? Junk food, advertising and kids  Dr Rhonda Jolly  Social Policy  Executive summary  • Childhood obesity has been labelled one of the most serious public health issues of the 21 st   century.  • Overweight and obese children typically grow into overweight and obese adults, who are  susceptible to chronic complaints such as diabetes and cardio vascular disease. These diseases  place considerable burdens on national health systems and economies.   • It can be argued therefore that policy which encourages healthy eating habits is desirable.   However, the increasing availability of foods high in fat, sugar and salt (so called junk foods)  across the world has made eating healthily a challenge.    • This challenge, according to some research, is compounded by advertising that adversely  influences people’s food preferences and consumption patterns. As a consequence of this  research, there has been considerable advocacy which has urged governments to place  limitations on the advertising of junk foods, particularly to children.  • In opposition, other research has supported the argument that junk food can be part of a  balanced diet and that it should be the responsibility of individuals, including children, to make  decisions about what they consume.   • This paper considers both sides of this debate.    • The paper also looks briefly at the policy approaches to junk food in a number of countries and  consequent actions taken to control or prohibit the influence of advertising. In particular, the  paper notes recent Australian Government approaches to dealing with this issue.    • The paper concludes that to date, the Australian response to this issue has emphasised the value  of a self regulatory regime.  However, this approach may be modified in the future, as a result of  a number of factors. These include growing public demand for intervention and a shift in health  policy more towards preventive health than has been emphasised in the past.   

NOVEMBER 15, 2010 Australian report on Bisphenol A Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has released its report on Bisphenol A (BPA) in food packaging and the risks to consumers. The compound BPA has a controversial history. It is suspected of being an endocrine disruptor (a chemical that mimics some

    ISSN 1328‐8091  Parliament of Australia Department of Parliamentary Services   BILLS DIGEST NO. 27, 2010-11  21 October 2010 Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2010 This is a later edition of a Bills Digest previously prepared for the 42nd    Parliament    Peter Hicks  Economics Section  Contents Purpose ............................................................................................................................................... 2  Background ......................................................................................................................................... 2  Changing levies .............................................................................................................................. 3  Financial implications ............................................................................................................................... 4  Main provisions ........................................................................................................................................ 4  Concluding comments ............................................................................................................................. 5      2  Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2010    Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Amendment Bill 2010 Date introduced:  29 September 2010  House:  House of