Mandala

📊 This week's #ChartoftheWeek explores Australia's housing crisis and how to optimise the $3 billion New Homes Bonus scheme to boost supply and affordability. 🏘️ The National Housing Accord targets 1.2 million well-located homes by FY2029, but projections show Australia is only on track to build 738,000 homes - creating a significant shortfall of 462,000 dwellings. Progress varies dramatically across jurisdictions: 🌟 The ACT is leading, projected to meet its 21,000 home target by the end of 2029. ⭐ Meanwhile, the NT is struggling at just 18% of its 11,000 home target The Australian Government's $3 billion New Homes Bonus scheme aims to incentivise states and territories by rewarding those exceeding their share of the original 1 million target. Our analysis shows this scheme needs optimisation to effectively drive reform at state and local government levels. Our research identifies four key recommendations to maximise the scheme's impact: 1️⃣ Bring forward payments and extend the scheme's duration to seven years to enable jurisdictions to implement longer-term reforms 2️⃣ Double funding to $6 billion to reflect the scale of the housing challenge and ringfence any unspent funding for future housing initiatives 3️⃣ Strengthen transparency with public, timely reporting and forums to share insights between jurisdictions 4️⃣ Enhance Australian Government leadership through a dedicated Housing Sub-Committee of Cabinet and utilising all available policy levers to support housing supply 💡 If the 1.2 million target is achieved, rental prices could be $90 per week lower in well-located areas and contribute $128 billion to the economy while supporting 368,000 jobs annually. For more insights, read our full "Smarter Incentives, More Homes" report: https://lnkd.in/gmvxzYwW #Housing #Australia #NewHomesBonus

With the Federal Budget only a few days away, Mandala joined CBE (ANU College of Business and Economics) at ANU and WESS (Women in Economics Students' Society) at the University of Melbourne this week to talk about everything ‘fiscal’. Mandala’s Charlie, Edward, Amy, Minh, and Kaaviyan connected with students to discuss the behind-the-scenes process of how the Federal Budget is crafted and how to decode the Budget documents. We were also thrilled to be able to chat about 2026 graduate opportunities, with applications closing tonight. 🔗Apply now: https://lnkd.in/gsrwRpXx

Two thirds of Americans bought political merchandise in the last election. Americans love elections. Australians do not. So why do Australians have more elections than the Americans?   Mandala's Madeleine McCure and Adam Triggs outline the benefits of moving to four-year terms in The Canberra Times. These benefits fall into three buckets: direct benefits (avoiding election costs), indirect benefits (avoiding lost business investment) and policy implementation benefits (more pro-growth reforms). If we add these up, the total benefit of moving from three-year terms to four-year terms is about $60 billion over 20 years. So, should Australia do it? If it helps, here’s a few more facts to throw into the mix. Every state and territory government in Australia has already shifted to four-year terms. Our federal election process is a national outlier. Australia is a global outlier, too. Out of the 186 countries that have active legislatures, only eight of them – including Australia – have terms that are three years or less. But we asked Australians once before if they wanted four-year terms. They emphatically rejected it. In the 1988 referendum, only a third of Australians – and not a single state – supported the change to four-year terms. There are big benefits from moving to four-year terms. But there’s a big cost, too: Australians get fewer opportunities to throw out bad governments. It’s a big cost. The question is: is it worth $60 billion? #AustralianElections #FourYearTerms #AustralianGovernment

🚨 Last chance! 🚨 Applications for Mandala’s 2026 Graduate Analyst Program close tomorrow, Friday 21 March ⏳ If you are a final-year student with a passion for tackling big public policy and economic challenges through data analytics and strategy consulting, don’t let this opportunity slip by! Mandala is a policy, economics, and strategy consultancy with offices in Sydney, Canberra, and Melbourne, and we’re looking for students who bring: 💡 Intellectual curiosity and rigour 🔍 A pragmatic mindset ✅ Commitment to quality What you’ll get: ✔ The chance to work on real policy problems that matter ✔ High-level mentorship from senior staff ✔ A career path tailored to your aspirations ✈ Travel & accommodation covered for successful interstate applicants to attend our assessment centre in Sydney Over the past few months, we’ve tackled: 💻 The future of data centres in Australia 👶 Strategies for quality, affordable childcare 🏠 The impact of student caps on housing 🌡️ Climate change risks for the tourism industry 🛒 How online retail channels lower inflation Apply now and kick-start your consulting career with Mandala! 🌟 🔗 Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gsrwRpXx ⏰ Applications close Friday, 21 March 2025 at 11:59pm AEDT Tag a friend who should apply! 👇 #GraduateProgram #EconomicConsulting #PolicyCareers #ConsultingCareers #DataAnalytics #MandalaPartners #Melbourne #Sydney #Canberra

Following on from the release of our paper on The Value of Shifting to Four-Year Parliamentary Terms, our Managing Partner Amit Singh spoke with the ABC Sydney’s James Valentine to outline the potential economic gains to the national economy. Our Commonwealth lower house remains amongst only eight countries globally with three-year or shorter terms. While the models to implement the change are complex and vary (as laid out in this paper released earlier this month from the Susan McKinnon Foundation) it is clear that there is considerable interest in pursuing reform to give governments additional time and stability to support governing in the long-term public interest, to adopt and implement policies needed for Australia to continue to prosper, and to provide certainty to business and the community.  Mandala research note: https://lnkd.in/gyy63Mit Susan McKinnon Foundation discussion paper:  https://lnkd.in/gFavERUd

We're looking forward to presenting our latest research, ‘Building an AI-Enabled Workforce: Impacts for Finance, Tech and Business Education and Training’ in partnership with the Future Skills Organisation at a panel discussion on Tuesday 25 March. This research builds on FSO's initial reports on the ‘Impact of Generative AI on Skills in the Workplace,’ and ‘Building an AI-Empowered Workforce: Priority Framework,’ exploring the level and nature of AI adoption among Finance, Tech and Business workers and the implications this has for skills and training demands as well as integration in the workplace. 💼 Join us for a webinar to delve into these findings, featuring Mandala's Tom McMahon who will present the key takeaways from the research. Webinar details:  📅 Date: Tuesday, 25 March 2025  ⏱️ Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm AEDT  📍 Location: Microsoft Teams (online) Register for free now: https://lnkd.in/gVDcHmaW #FSOWebinar #BuildinganAIEnabledWorkforce #GenerativeAI #AIAdoption

Excited to share our latest report for the Property Council of Australia: "Smarter Incentives, More Homes" 🏘️   Australia's housing affordability crisis continues to deepen, with the time required to save for a deposit in capital cities now exceeding 10 years.   Our research shows that achieving the government's target of 1.2 million new well-located homes by 2029 could: 📉 Reduce rental prices by $90 per week in well-located areas 💸 Contribute $128 billion to economic activity 💼 Support 368,000 jobs annually   However, our analysis indicates the current New Homes Bonus scheme needs optimisation. We've identified four key recommendations to maximise its impact:   1️⃣ Refine the scheme by bringing forward payments and extending its duration 2️⃣ Increase funding to $6 billion to reflect the scale of the challenge  3️⃣ Strengthen transparency through clear public reporting 4️⃣ Enhance Australian government leadership   With only 60% of the target homes currently on track to be delivered, we need smarter incentives to bridge the gap. The potential benefits for Australians are substantial.   Read the full report: https://lnkd.in/gmvxzYwW   #HousingAffordability #PropertyPolicy #AustralianHousing #EconomicAnalysis #Mandala

It was great to see our research "Empowering Australia's Digital Future" being referenced in JLL's latest economic report on commercial real estate. Their analysis examines the impact of data centres on Australia's property landscape amid the growing AI revolution. Data centres are the engine room of Australia's digital economy, enabling our modern digital lives and underpinning every digital interaction in society. Our research found that these facilities support everything from everyday internet use to critical services like emergency response, transport, and banking. Key insights from our report reveal: 📈 Data centre deployable capacity in Australia is projected to more than double from 1,350 megawatts in 2024 to 3,100 megawatts by 2030, with investment forecast to top $26 billion 👩💻 Australia's data centre workforce needs to grow by 8,300 to reach 17,900 by 2030, creating opportunities particularly for tech trades and ICT professionals ⚡ Data centres make the digital economy more energy efficient—without them, on-premise servers would use 67% more electricity, enough to power 280,000 homes annually 🌱 Major data centre operators have committed to 100% renewable energy by 2030, helping catalyse Australia's energy transition by underwriting renewable energy projects To fully capture Australia's digital opportunity, our report recommends collaboration between government and industry to streamline approval processes, accelerate renewable energy investment, and prioritise workforce development. As household internet-connected devices are set to double by 2030 and the AI revolution accelerates, data centres will play an increasingly vital role in powering our digital future. Read our full report: https://lnkd.in/gRcxNs3K #digitalinfrastructure #australia #AI #datacentres #futureeconomy

There’s a lot of doom and gloom about the U.S. at the moment. But there is one remarkable bright spot: productivity growth is going gangbusters. Cumulative labour productivity rose 1.5 per cent in Australia over the last 10 years. In America, it grew 15 per cent. Adam Triggs breaks down what this means and what’s driving it in The Canberra Times. He argues that productivity growth is about as close to a silver bullet as we can get: it raises wages, boosts incomes, reduces inequality and eases cost of living pressures. America can look forward to all these things provided it can keep productivity growth high (and provided they don’t do anything silly). Australia could achieve this too, but much of it hinges on the adoption of new (and not so new) technologies. Is Australia up the task? #productivity #economics #technology

Australian federal political leaders from all sides agree we should seriously consider fixed four-year terms. Every state and territory lower house already uses four-year terms and globally only a few countries opt for shorter cycles - and yet the Australian House of Representatives currently operates on three year cycles. 📅 Our latest research featured in the SMH, reveals significant potential benefits of adopting fixed four year terms. While exact impacts are hard to pinpoint, informed assumptions offer valuable insights: • Reduced Direct Costs: Fewer elections (five instead of six over 20 years) could save around $6.6 billion in election expenses, voter opportunity costs, and political party expenditures. 💰 • Indirect Economic Benefits: Avoiding the uncertainty of frequent elections may boost business investment by up to $40.5 billion over 20 years (because of the impact of delays on time-sensitive or irreversible projects). In addition to this there is potentially a modest $0.2 billion in gains from reduced caretaker productivity losses. 📈 • Enhanced Policy Implementation: More time for reform could add an extra $14–26 billion over 20 years by reducing short-term, political cycle driven decision-making. 🚀 It’s important to remember that while elections drive important grassroots economic activity—supporting local communities, charities, and beyond—this analysis focuses on the macroeconomic perspective. We are not trying to discount the value of a democracy sausage. 🌭 Thanks SMH for the thoughtful coverage, article here: https://lnkd.in/g5fQgvAn If you’re interested in this topic, there is also an excellent discussion paper from the Susan McKinnon Foundation on this topic as well: https://lnkd.in/gFavERUd