Publications

Explore our independent insights and news.

Insights

Housing

Recent research into rental affordability in Australia shows no relief for low-income households
Hobart remains the least affordable city to rent in Australia while Newstart recipients and other low-income households are experiencing severe rental stress across Australia, the latest release of th...

Insights

Employment, Housing, Open Space, Retail

Governing urban renewal: lessons from Melbourne Docklands and Hamburg’s Hafencity
Urban renewal governance arrangements in Australia need reform. The funder, purchaser and provider in urban renewal projects often have conflicting objectives, leaving the host community with a compro...

Insights

 

Reflecting on a decade of change at SGS
As we prepare to celebrate 30 years in business, SGS Economics and Planning Principal and Partner Andrew McDougall reflects on the exhilarating and somewhat challenging process of shaping and governin...

Insights

Employment

Women in Australia's most populated cities retire sooner than their counterparts across the country
New analysis shows the average Australian woman can expect to retire at age 64.3 with women working in Australia’s more populated cities retiring earlier than their counterparts across the country. Cu...

Insights

Government

Local councils need to retain their inner city maintenance depots
Rather than leave maintenance depot facilities to the vagaries of the private market, we recommend local councils retain depots - even if they are in the middle of an urban renewal precinct. Here's wh...

Insights

 

The value of planning: How to rebuild trust in the democratic process and show that good planning has value and is valuable
Despite 25 years of economic growth, Australians have become more distrustful of politicians, sceptical about democratic institutions, and disillusioned with democratic processes. So what tools can we...

Insights

Government

Melbourne: Governing the growing metropolis
In many respects, Melbourne is a great success story but on closer examination, there are troubling signs evident in Melbourne’s growth management record.

Insights

Education, Government, Housing, Open Space, Transport

Canberra: An evolving city
Last year was a busy time for planning in the ACT. This period saw the release of a range of new strategies to guide Canberra's development. Heralding a further wave of urban renewal, together with th...

Insights

Government, Housing

Don’t tear it down: the idea behind Labor’s National Rental Affordability Scheme is worth saving
Labor’s Rudd-era National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS) has come under attack just when it might be needed. We need to learn from past mistakes, but we don't need to throw the baby out with the b...

Insights

Transport

Balanced perspective required on the Suburban Rail Loop
Economics and planning go together like toast and vegemite (or whatever your preferred spread is) – neither is much good without the other. Marion Terrill’s critique of the proposed Suburban Rail Loop...

Insights

Government

Who owns the development rights in our cities?
Land development rights are in reality a public asset and should be capable of being exploited only where accompanied by a fair value commitment to improvement of the public realm, including for examp...