Official Development Assistance: A Comparison
Foreign aid assistance by Nordic nations is amongst the most generous in the world. Policymakers are increasingly targeting that aid toward climate adaptation. In contrast, Australia’s aid programs remain dismally underfunded.
Read moreClimate Change Museums: The Klimahuset
Museums are key sites for climate change education, action and research. Oslo’s Klimahuset museum is a world-leading institution dedicated to communicating climate change.
Read moreSami Parliaments
The Nordic Sami parliaments provide the indigenous people of Norway, Sweden and Finland with a voice in decisions affecting their communities. These parliaments provide an insight for attempts in Australia to provide a similar voice for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Read moreEnding the ICE age
All new car sales in Norway will be zero-emissions vehicles by 2025. To achieve this goal, Norway has a comprehensive electric vehicle policy. Australia has no federal electric vehicle strategy or policies and no plan for the transition from ICE vehicles.
Read moreMedia literacy education in Finland
Finland tops the media literacy index, an annual index of European countries measuring resistance to fake news. Finland’s success rests on the teaching of media literacy skills in schools.
Read moreFighting poverty: Unemployment policies in Nordic countries
Unemployment policies in Nordic countries highlight how Australian unemployment benefits could be improved. Poverty levels in Nordic countries are significantly lower than in Australia, partly due to unemployment policies that provide greater support.
Read moreTax and Wellbeing: The impact of taxation on economic wellbeing
It has been claimed that higher levels of taxation weaken the economy but a comparative study of 188 economies shows that higher levels of taxation are correlated with higher average income. The positive correlation also exists with other measures of economic wellbeing.
Read moreParticipating in growth: Free childcare and increased participation
The provision of free childcare provides the rarest of economic policy opportunities – it’s both an effective form of fiscal stimulus in the short term and has the capacity to boost the long-term participation rate and, in turn, the long-run rate of economic growth.
Read moreDenmark bars tax haven companies from Covid-19 financial aid
The Danish Government has refused Covid-19 bailout money to companies registered in tax havens. This has inspired some countries to adopt similar restrictions, but Australia is yet to follow suit.
Read morePrison during covid-19: Nordic approaches
Nordic countries have incarceration rates that are a fraction of Australia’s. Their systems emphasise non-custodial alternatives to imprisonment and promote prisoners’ access to education. This has helped Nordic prisons respond to Covid-19.
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