Per Capita was joined by Professor Bryan Horrigan yesterday for our March John Cain Lunch. In front of an intimate crowd, Professor Horrigan spoke about his new book "Corporate Social Responsibility in an Age of Existential Threats" which was followed by spirited discussion with the audience.

On this week's Burning Platforms, the Director of QUT’S Digital Media Research Centre outlines how different chatbots take users down different wormholes when they research conspiracy theories. Listen to Burning Platforms here: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

"The imbalance between labour income and capital income raises serious equity concerns. A 25% discount would maintain an incentive to invest while improving the fairness of the system." Wesa Chau at the Senate Select Committee on the Operation of the CGT Discount.

"Here is a set of tech bros walking [into court] defending something and just FLOUTING the law." Lizzie O’Shea gives the Burning Platforms panel the low down on what happened at Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg's trial. Catch the full episode of Burning Platforms here: youtu.be/e3BGUcPqkO0

Tickets for the March John Cain Lunch with Professor Bryan Horrigan will close on this Friday! Be sure to get yours via the Humanitix link below. Wed, 18 Mar, 12:30pm - 2pm AEDT, Graduate House, Melbourne University.

The Burning Platforms panel kick around the carcass of a week when the White House went to war with AI, bosses found new ways to snoop on workers, and the market was moved by a bit of fan fiction. Listen to the latest episode of Burning Platforms: percapita.org.au/our_podcasts...

“If you look Labor’s history and you see the left as the handbrake on the pragmatism of the right, what happens when the left takes power? Who is there to try and pull them back?” Sean Kelly spoke at the Feb JCL Watch the full speech here: youtube.com/live/g4sm0e-...

Catch the latest Burning Platforms, where the team look at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi with first-hand accounts from UTS’s Human Technology Institute co-director, Prof Nicholas Davis, and regular panelist Digital Rights Chair Lizzie O’Shea. Watch it on YouTube: youtu.be/e3BGUcPqkO0?...

The McKell Institute has just published a new report: Funding Fairer Housing. It proposes an innovative model for taxing wealth in Australia, focusing on ultra-wealthy individuals with landholdings valued over $20 million. Per Capita recommends reading this report:

"Covertly tracking customers has transformed the marketplace from a place of human connection to one of automated checkouts, monitored customers and staff forced to don body-cams to document the inevitable backlash." Peter Lewis writes. Read the full story here: www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

What if the RBA had lifted interest rates far more aggressively and? New Zealand offers a revealing counterfactual. Read the latest Insight from Per Capita Research Fellow, Osmond Chiu: percapita.org.au/new-zealand-...

"I think its very interesting if the Prime Minister is essentially saying the struggle over belief doesn't exist in the party." Author Sean Kelly joined Per Capita for the first John Cain Lunch for 2026, asking the serious question: What does Labor stand for? youtube.com/shorts/o4AHA...

"With populists gaining traction around the globe, we need to understand what is driving [One Nation and Pauline Hanson's] surging popularity." Peter Lewis' latest op ed is now available in the Guardian. Read it here: www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

On this week's episode of Burning Platforms, the team look at the AI Impact Summit in Delhi with first-hand accounts from UTS’s Human Technology Institute co-director, Prof Nicholas Davis, and regular panelist Digital Rights Chair Lizzie O'Shea. Listen to Burning Platforms: shorturl.at/H6kE1

In the battle to win policy change for a fairer, more equitable world, we must win hearts before we can win minds. Evidence is still crucial, but we must also speak to people on an emotional level using values-based framing. Find out how in the latest Insights post from Per Capita:

“When asked to rate the nation’s kindness, Australians like to think of ourselves as displaying the characteristics of kindness, assuming others have good intentions, caring for those doing it tough, being aware of our impact on others.”

With wide yet shallow support, will the Albanese government change the country? Does it have big ideas, or is it content just to become "the natural party of government"? Sean Kelly joined Per Capita for their Feb John Cain Lunch! Listen on the JCL Series podcast: percapita.org.au/our_podcasts...

Author, columnist, and former adviser to the Rudd/Gillard governments, Sean Kelly, joined us for our first John Cain Lunch for 2026. Per Capita thanks Sean for sharing his time with us, delivering a fantastic speech and answers during our Q+A in front of a packed crowd!

Moltbook, a curious, Reddit-like forum where AI agents post about their users, is being treated as a novelty. That interpretation is right to some extent, but also quite wrong with regard to what this represents. Dr Michael D’Rosario, writes in his latest paper: percapita.org.au/moltbook-and...

"A politics of kindness could breathe fresh life into a broader policy agenda that looks beyond our own material wellbeing to encompass the plights of those who are struggling, both here and abroad, and recognising that improving their plight makes us stronger, not weaker." Peter Lewis writes.

Our ED, Dr Wesa Chau, has been out and about, this time attending Mannifera's Democracy 100 roundtable in Melbourne. Per Capita is proud to have Dr Chau represent our think tank at this event. And we thank Mannifera for facilitating such important conversations.

According to our 2023 Housing Monitor, almost 2/3 of non-homeowners say that the only way they will ever be able to buy a home is if they receive a large inheritance. It appears not much has changed. At least that is the vibe this Guardian article is giving: www.theguardian.com/society/ng-i...

"Way before Bondi, Albanese had identified kindness as his aspirational operating principle in government... The challenge is that “kindness” is both a noun (our kind) and verb (to act with generosity of spirit, the empathy to see our common humanity)."

"When the pathways into leadership narrow, so too does the diversity of thinking and experience within our democracy." Dr Wesa Chau speaking on how Australians are represented by their government. Read the fourth edition of The Way In here: percapita.org.au/our_work/the...

Last chance to grab your tickets to the February John Cain Lunch with Sean Kelly. Register here: events.humanitix.com/john-cain-lu...

"The idea that [AI or AGI] would have some degree of autonomy, it's own survival for would be a priority for it... is very important for us to understand." Professor of Collective Intelligence at University College London, Sir Geoff Mulgan, joins Burning Platforms.

John Cain's legacy has informed Per Capita's work since our inception. This connection was strengthened through our merger with the John Cain Foundation in late 2020.

Inclusionary Zoning (IZ) mandates or incentivises social or affordable housing. IZ can be very effective at delivering affordable housing, but it comes with risks. We lay out 4 principles for policy-makers developing IZ policy: percapita.org.au/inclusionary... #auspol #housingcrisis

“When asked to rate the nation’s kindness, Australians like to think of ourselves as displaying the characteristics of kindness, assuming others have good intentions, caring for those doing it tough, being aware of our impact on others.” Peter Lewis writes in The Guardian Australia. Read it here:

“When you’re talking about people who are sleeping rough, they’ll usually come to these [proposed] pods with a whole bunch of trauma... just having a bed doesn’t solve everything.” Listen to the full segment here: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Enabling employees to access flexible working arrangements improves retention, reduces absenteeism and enables greater workforce participation. Per Capita supports the intent of the Fair Work Amendment (Right to Work from Home) Bill 2025. Read the full submission here:

The 50 per cent CGT discount goes beyond the purpose the discount and undermines the progressive nature of Australia’s personal income tax system.

This year, 680 Australians were recognised in the Order of Australia Honours List. Notably, only 27% of recipients were women. However, what has received far less attention is the lack of cultural diversity within the list. Per Capita explores this disparity in their new paper:

This is great from the ACTU, and backed by policy work from @percapitaaustralia.bsky.social - reducing the Capital Gains Tax discount is a key reform to help reduce extreme inequality and asset ownership concentration in the hands of the ultra rich. #auspol

Starting 2026 strong at Per Capita with a productive strategy day in Melbourne, where we brainstormed new ways to make a greater impact with our research and advocacy. Making Australia a more equitable and fair place is a big challenge, but our small team is ready to tackle it head on.

Changes in the property market tend to deliver winners and losers, she said, but stabilising house prices was a good policy outcome in the face of unsustainable growth. "From an equity perspective, house prices not increasing in Melbourne is a good thing for many people," [Dr Kate Raynor] said.

Burning Platforms is BACK for 2026. The panels returns this week to unpack the existential risks AI presents with the Good Ancestors CEO, Greg Sadler. Spoiler: it's not just AGI. Listen to Burning Platforms: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

"With more women in leadership, governments become more responsive to issues such as health, education, safety and equity. It also shows young Australians that leadership is not defined by gender." Wesa Chau writes in her new blog. Read the "The Way In": percapita.org.au/the-way-in-r...

"We often pride ourselves on being a country where diversity is a strength and where anyone — with enough passion, hard work and persistence — can rise to leadership. But The Way In... reveals a more complicated truth." Dr Wesa Chau writes in our latest blog: percapita.org.au/the-way-in-r...

Homelessness is a large and growing issue in Australia. 350 requests for support go unmet each day due to a lack of resources. It is also a health crisis with the median age at death for people receiving homelessness being 55, 28 years the average Australian average life expectancy.

Instagram was once a social media platform, where your network mattered. Since it was acquired by Facebook, the app has become another video platform to compete with YouTube and TikTok. Listen to Burning Platforms with Cory Apelt here: podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/b...

"This research is groundbreaking. For the first time in Australia, we can answer questions about what it would actually cost to functionally end rough sleeping in a location." Dr Kate Raynor speaks on the "Supportive Housing (SH) Needs Assessment for Perth and Bunbury, Western Australia" Report.

Osmond Chiu, Per Capita's research fellow, is a contributing writer for Volume 33, Issue 3-4 of Renewal: A Journal of Social Democracy. If you're a subscriber, read his piece "The unexpected Albolanche: Australian Labor’s historic landslide victory" here: renewal.org.uk/articles/the...

Dr Kate Raynor, our director of the Centre of Equitable Housing, weighed in on the proposal to building housing pods in Geelong in an effort to curb the number of people sleeping rough, on ABC radio late yesterday afternoon. Listen to the full segment on PM, here: www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Per Capita's Wesa Chau and Kate Raynor met with Mortgage Stress Victoria yesterday to share their research and explore how we could help Victorians experience mortgage stress. Looking forward to further collaborations in the future!

Reducing the Capital Gains Tax Discount from 50% to 25% could improve the Australian tax system, making it fairer and more progressive. Read the latest Per Capita blog, "Reforming the Capital Gains Tax Discount", to find out how: percapita.org.au/reforming-th...

Per Capita recently welcomed the opportunity to make a submission to the Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025. Find out why by reading our submission - available on the Per Capita website: percapita.org.au/our_work/sub...

"From an equity perspective, house prices not increasing in Melbourne is a good thing for many people." CEH's director, Dr Kate Raynor, was quoted on the changing house prices in Australia's capital cities by Jesse Thompson in ABC News. Read the full article here: www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...

The size of the capital gains tax discount goes beyond the purpose of the discount, undermines the progressive nature of Australia’s personal income tax system, and should be reduced. Read Per Capita's latest submission here: percapita.org.au/our_work/sub...

Homelessness is a growing issue in Australia, with one in three people seeking crisis accommodation not receiving support. Dr Kate Raynor unpacks Australia's homelessness issue and the cost of ending rough sleeping in her latest article for the Conversation. theconversation.com/how-much-doe...