Australian tax-transfer policy in comparative perspective
Peter Whiteford
Social Policy Research Centre
Contact Email:   p.whitefordunsw.edu.au

This paper will provide a background for considering key social security transfer policy issues in Australia. The paper will be based in a range of major databases developed by the OECD Secretariat, including the social expenditure database, the “net social expenditure” database, the benefit recipient database, the income distribution database, and the benefits and wages database. The paper will concisely summarise the main conclusions to be drawn from analysis of these data sources and identify implications for reform of Australian transfer payments. In particular, the paper will place the Australian system of social transfers and taxes in an international comparative perspective, identifying the distinctive design features and outcomes of Australian arrangements, as well as the similarities between Australian arrangements and those in other countries; discuss the distributional profile of Australian transfers compared to those in other OECD countries, and how these have developed over the past two decades; and assess the efficiency and effectiveness of the Australian system in terms of poverty reduction and impacts on income inequality.

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