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  DECEMBER 2, 2011 Are maths and science enrolments increasing? Image source: RMIT University In the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook the Government announced savings of $403.6 million over three years through a measure to increase the HECS amount for mathematics and science students from 2013. The increase will reverse

ISSN 1328-8091 Parliament of Australia Departmentof Parliamentary Services Contents Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Spectrum ............................................................................................................................................. 2 Sixth channel ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Digital dividend ................................................................................................................................... 6 Convergence Review ........................................................................................................................... 7 Committee consideration ........................................................................................................................ 9 Financial implications ............................................................................................................................... 9 Key provisions .......................................................................................................................................... 9 Concluding comments ........................................................................................................................... 10 BILLS DIGEST NO. 76,

    NOVEMBER 10, 2011 Australia's current spending on science reserach and development Source: Mount Stromlo Observatory The awarding of the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics to Professor Brian Schmidt, an Australian National  University (ANU) professor of Astrophysics, for his role in the discovery that the universe is  expanding at an accelerating rate, is a significant achievement not only for ANU but also for  Australia. It is the first time in almost one hundred years that an Australian has won a Nobel Prize in  Physics - William and Lawrence Bragg, a father and son team, were the last Australians to win a  Noble Prize for Physics in 1915 - and it is the sixth Nobel Prize to be won by an ANU researcher. The total expenditure on all research and development in 2008-09 was approximately $27.7 billion.  This includes expenditure from the following sectors: Business, Government (Commonwealth, State  and Territory), Higher Education and Private not for Profit Organisations (PNFPO)i[i]. The Business  sector accounted for 61 per cent of total expenditure. Expenditure on the sciences, which includes  Psychology and the Cognitive Sciences but excludes expenditure from PNFPO, accounted for 92.1  per cent of the total. Expenditure in the physical sciences in 2008-09 was approximately 455 million,  of which 436 million can be attributed to the public sector (higher education and all levels of  government).  The total expenditure in 2008-09 was distributed to following type of R&D activities: •         Pure basic research - $2.5 billion •         Strategic basic research -$3.4 billion •         Applied research - $10.6 billion •         Experimental  development -$11.5 billion Total expenditure, in real terms, from 1992-93 to 2000-01 remained relatively constant, however,  since 2000-01 total expenditure for business and the public sector has increased at an increasing  rate. This is clearly shown in Chart 1. Total expenditure as a proportion of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008-09 was 2.21 per cent.   When compared to other Organisation of Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD)  countries, Australia is below the OECD average, which, in 2008-09 was 2.33 per cent. Despite this,  Australia’s contribution as a per cent of GDP grew from 2000-01 to 2008-09 by 0.70 percentage  points as opposed to 0.10 percentage points for the OECD average. Australia spent more as a  proportion of GDP than the United Kingdom, Canada and France who spent, respectively, 1.77, 1.84  and 2.02 per cent, but less than the United States and Germany (2.77 and 2.64 per cent  respectively). There has been a significant increase in expenditure on R&D by the Business sector since 2000-01,  with the exception of 2009-10 where expenditure decreased, in real terms, by 5 per cent when  compared to 2008-09. The increased expenditure was most probably connected to the resources 

ISSN 1328-8091 Parliament of Australia Departmentof Parliamentary Services Contents Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Basis of policy commitment ................................................................................................................ 3 Committee consideration ................................................................................................................... 3 Senate Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills ............................................................... 3 Financial implications ............................................................................................................................... 4 Key provisions .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Import Levy—SGGs ................................................................................................................... 5 Exemptions to the

NOVEMBER 1, 2011 Low Flying Kangaroo The dispute between Qantas and unions can be seen in the context of Qantas’ attempts to remain viable in a highly competitive domestic and international aviation environment. This article examines some of the sources of these competitive pressures and the strategies that Qantas has

ISSN 1328-8091 Parliament of Australia Departmentof Parliamentary Services Contents Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 2 Committee consideration ................................................................................................................... 3 Financial implications ............................................................................................................................... 3 Key provisions .......................................................................................................................................... 3 BILLS DIGEST NO. 67, 2011-12 28 October 2011 Climate Change Authority Bill 2011 Juli Tomaras Law and Bills Digest Section 2 Climate Change

ISSN 1328-8091 Parliament of Australia Departmentof Parliamentary Services Contents Glossary .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Participants in British Nuclear Tests) Bill 2011 .................... 3 Purpose .................................................................................................................................................... 3 Background .............................................................................................................................................. 3 British nuclear tests in the 1950s .................................................................................................. 3 Australian personnel at the British nuclear tests in Australia ....................................................... 3