Australia has a reading problem. A third of children can't read proficiently. In the typical Australian school classroom of 24 students, eight can't read well. This has huge flow on effects for their success in life and costs Australia billions of dollars. And the worst thing is, it's preventable.

In this podcast, report authors Jordana Hunter and Anika Stobart discuss The Reading Guarantee: How to give every child the best chance for success, and offer a new plan of how to reform reading education in Australia.

Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/reading-guarantee/

Transcript available on our website: https://grattan.edu.au/news/why-australia-needs-a-reading-guarantee/

Each year Grattan selects its best books of the past 12 months as recommended reading for the Prime Minister and all Australians over the summer holidays. In this summer series, we discuss some of the works on the list with the people who wrote them.

In this special podcast, Hannah Orban and Alastair McEwin discuss the Quarterly Essay, Lifeboat: Disability, Humanity, and the NDIS, with author Micheline Lee. The essay explains what it's like to live with disability in Australia, the big improvements that the National Disability Insurance Scheme has brought about, and the challenges that remain in accessing and using the NDIS.

Read the essay: https://www.blackincbooks.com.au/books/lifeboat

Read the Prime Minister's Summer Reading List: https://grattan.edu.au/news/prime-ministers-summer-reading-list-2023/

In addition to Grattan Institute’s annual Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List, our Wonks’ List highlights some of the year’s best technical policy reads, for anyone who wants to take a deeper dive.

In this special podcast, Senior Associate Natasha Bradshaw discusses the Wonks' List with Associate Elizabeth Baldwin and Health Program Director Peter Breadon.

Show notes and references

The Wonks' List and our rationale: https://grattan.edu.au/news/wonks-list-2023/

Men. Male-biased sex ratios and masculinity norms: evidence from Australia’s colonial past: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10887-023-09223-x

Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of U.S. Political Divides: https://www.nber.org/papers/w31688

The rise and fall of peer review: https://www.experimental-history.com/p/the-rise-and-fall-of-peer-review

Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Taxes and Perinatal Health: A Quasi-Experimental Study: https://www.ajpmonline.org/article/S0749-3797(23)00158-7/fulltext

Swallow This: Childhood and Adolescent Exposure to Fast Food Restaurants, BMI, and Cognitive Ability: https://www.nber.org/papers/w31226

Social Media and Mental Health: https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.20211218

Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate

Each year Grattan selects its best books of the past 12 months as recommended reading for the Prime Minister and all Australians over the summer holidays. In this summer series, we discuss some of the works on the list with the people who wrote them.

In this special podcast, award-winning Mununjali author, Ellen Van Neerven, discusses their book Personal Score with Grattan associates Esther Suckling and Dominic Jones. The book is an expansive examination of race, gender and sexuality, told through the lens of playing sport.

Read the full Prime Minister’s Summer Reading List: https://grattan.edu.au/news/prime-ministers-summer-reading-list-2023/

Read Personal Score: https://www.uqp.com.au/books/personal-score-sport-culture-identity

Each year Grattan selects its best books of the past 12 months as recommended reading for the Prime Minister and all Australians over the summer holidays. In this special summer series, we discuss some of the works on the list with the people who wrote them.

In this special podcast, renowned Australian author Anna Funder discusses her literary non-fiction masterpiece, Wifedom.

Hosted by Anika Stobart, Senior Associate, and Amy Haywood, Education Deputy Program Director.

Read the full Prime Minister's Summer Reading List: https://grattan.edu.au/news/prime-ministers-summer-reading-list-2023/

Purchase Wifedom by Anna Funder: https://www.penguin.com.au/books/wifedom-9780143787112

The National Disability Insurance Scheme Review has published its final report. The report contains 26 recommendations and 139 actions, many of which relate to creating a unified system of support for people with disability. But does the review go far enough? Is it going to deliver better outcomes for people with disability that rely on the NDIS, while creating a plan to manage spiralling costs?

Listen to host Kat Clay, in conversation with Sam Bennett, Disability Program Director, and Hannah Orban, Associate, about what the NDIS review means for disability services in Australia.

Read the NDIS review: https://www.ndisreview.gov.au/resources/reports/working-together-deliver-ndis

Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate/

Last week, the OECD released the results of the program for international student assessment, better known as PISA. Every three years, hundreds of thousands of 15-year-old students from across the world sit tests in maths, science and reading. But what do the results show for Australia? And are our students doing better, worse, or about the same?

Listen to Jordana Hunter, Education Program Director, and Nick Parkinson, Senior Associate, in conversation with host Kat Clay about the test and what the results reveal about Australia's education system.

From cars to homes to industry, hydrogen has been hyped as an all-encompassing solution to meeting Australia’s emissions targets. But is it the golden ticket to a net-zero future? With the National Hydrogen Strategy under review, it’s time to get truly strategic with hydrogen.

Listen to energy experts Alison Reeve and Richard Yan discuss their new report, *Hydrogen: hype, hope, or hard work?*.

Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/hydrogen-hype-hope-or-hard-work/

Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate

Each year, vaccines save thousands of lives. But in the wake of the pandemic, Australians are sick of hearing about vaccination. Amidst the misinformation on the internet and fatigue from government messaging, many of us have become complacent.

New Grattan research shows that millions of older Australians at high risk of serious illness are missing out on essential vaccines, and certain groups of people are more likely to miss out than others. Listen to Peter Breadon, Health Program Director, and Ingrid Burfurd, Senior Associate, discuss their new report with host Kat Clay.

Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/a-fair-shot-ensuring-all-australians-can-get-the-vaccines-they-need/

It's no secret that Australian roads are in a state of disrepair, but it's a lesser known fact that three quarters of our roads are managed by local councils. Many councils are struggling to look after our roads, because they don't have the revenue, the capacity, or the expertise.

In this podcast, Natasha Bradshaw, Marion Terrill, and Dominic Jones discuss their latest report, Potholes and Pitfalls, which investigates why local roads are in a state of disrepair and provides a roadmap to fix them.

Read the report: https://grattan.edu.au/report/potholes-and-pitfalls-how-to-fix-local-roads/

Donate to Grattan: https://grattan.edu.au/donate/