Peter Whiteford

Peter Whiteford is a Professor at the Crawford School at the Australian National University and the director of the Social Policy Institute. His research is focused on social security and income support policies. He is a member of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee (EIAC).

Contact Details

Website : https://researchers.anu.edu.au/researchers/whiteford-pb


Articles

  • Budget Forum 2026: To reduce housing stress, rent assistance needs to be increased, 02 Jun 2026
  • Budget Forum 2025: The Impact of Australian Government Assistance on Housing Stress, 18 Mar 2025
  • JobSeeker Payments Still Below the Poverty Line, And Here’s Why That Affects Us All, 13 Mar 2025
  • ‘The Social Engineering of Shame’: Rick Morton’s Mean Streak Exposes the Populism Behind the Unlawful Robodebt Scheme, 03 Dec 2024
  • 425 Thousand More People on Welfare? Fact-Checking the Institute for Public Affairs, 14 Aug 2024
  • 425 Thousand More People on Welfare? Fact-Checking the Institute for Public Affairs: Part 2, 14 Aug 2024
  • Budget Forum 2024: JobSeeker Payments Need a Substantial Boost (and Improved Indexation), 29 Apr 2024
  • Opposition’s JobSeeker Plans Would at First Leave 640,000 Worse off and 168,000 Better off, 02 Aug 2023
  • Why the French Are Rebelling and Australians Aren’t, 17 Jul 2023
  • Why the French Are Rebelling and Australians Aren’t: Part 2, 17 Jul 2023
  • Why Robodebt’s Use of ‘Income Averaging’ Lacked Basic Common Sense, 24 Mar 2023
  • Perrottet’s Child Trust Fund Policy Dusts Off an Idea Last Tried by UK Labour, 17 Mar 2023
  • How Generous is the British Welfare State? Part 3: Comparing Assistance for Households, 02 Dec 2022
  • How Generous Is the British Welfare State? Part 2: The Social Division of Welfare – Taxation, the Public and Private Mix and Redistribution, 24 Nov 2022
  • How Generous Is the British Welfare State?, 15 Nov 2022
  • Do Australians Pay Too Much Income Tax? 6 Charts on How We Rank Against the Rest of the World, 13 Jul 2022
  • How Can More People Be on Unemployment Benefits Than Before COVID, With Fewer Unemployed Australians?, 27 Apr 2022
  • With Low Unemployment, Why JobSeeker Payments Need to Be Increased, 22 Apr 2022
  • There’s a New Temporary COVID Disaster Payment – Who Can Get It? Who Is Missing Out?, 04 Jun 2021
  • The $50 Boost to JobSeeker Will Take Australia’s Payment From the Lowest in the OECD to the Second-Lowest After Greece, 25 Feb 2021
  • Robodebt Was a Policy Fiasco With a Human Cost We Have Yet to Fully Appreciate, 18 Nov 2020
  • Unemployment Support Will Be Slashed by $300 This Week. This Won’t Help People Find Work, 22 Sep 2020
  • There Will Be No Pension Increase in September for the First Time in 23 Years, but There Is a Simple Fix, 21 Aug 2020
  • When the Coronavirus Supplement Stops, JobSeeker Needs to Increase by $185 a Week, 25 May 2020
  • If We Want Workers to Stay Home When Sick, We Need Paid Leave for Casuals, 15 May 2020
  • Social Security and COVID-19: Exposing the Limits of Social Protection?, 20 Apr 2020
  • Open Letter to the Prime Minister: Extend Coronavirus Support to Temporary Workers, 08 Apr 2020
  • The Government’s Fiscal Tool Kit for COVID-19, 07 Apr 2020
  • Coronavirus Supplement: Your Guide to the Australian Payments That Will Go to the Extra Million on Welfare, 29 Mar 2020
  • When It Comes to Sick Leave, We’re Not Much Better Prepared for Coronavirus Than the US, 12 Mar 2020
  • Policy Choices and Automation: How Benefits Systems Can Create Unjust Debts, 20 Feb 2020
  • Timing It Wrong, Part Two: Universal Credit Inherits Overpayments from Tax Credits, 15 Aug 2019
  • Are Most People on the Newstart Unemployment Benefit for a Short or Long Time?, 29 Jul 2019
  • Is Newstart Really the Pacesetter Scott Morrison Says It Is?, 18 Jul 2019
  • A Snapshot of Life in the Middle Class, 24 Jun 2019
  • Expecting the Unexpected, 13 Jun 2019
  • A ‘Fresh Approach to Universal Credit’ – Are There Lessons from Australia?, 29 Apr 2019
  • [Budget Forum 2019] Future Budgets Are Going to Have to Spend More on Welfare, Which Is Fine. It’s Spending on Us, 22 Mar 2019
  • Why Social Policy Counts, 07 Dec 2018
  • It’s Not Just Newstart. Single Parents Are $271 per Fortnight Worse Off. Labor Needs an Overarching Welfare Review, 05 Dec 2018
  • Relax. The Divide Between the Taxed and the ‘Taxed-Nots’ Isn’t New and Doesn’t Buy Elections, 05 Oct 2018
  • Don’t Believe What They Say About Inequality. Some of Us Are Worse Off, 10 Sep 2018
  • Good Times, Bad Times, 13 Jul 2018
  • Who Gets What? Who Pays for It? How Incomes, Taxes and Benefits Work out for Australians, 25 Jun 2018
  • Is Australia’s Tax and Welfare System Too Progressive?, 07 Jun 2018
  • The ‘Inequality Wars’: CEO Pay Is One Part of Complex Picture Post-GFC, 12 Dec 2017
  • Income Inequality Ticks Down as the Rich See Their Incomes Fall: ABS, 15 Sep 2017
  • Social Security and Welfare Spending in Australia: Assessing Long-Term Trends Part 5, 02 Aug 2017
  • Social Security and Welfare Spending in Australia: Assessing Long-Term Trends Part 4, 01 Aug 2017
  • Social Security and Welfare Spending in Australia: Assessing Long-Term Trends Part 3, 31 Jul 2017
  • Social Security and Welfare Spending in Australia: Assessing Long-Term Trends Part 2, 28 Jul 2017
  • Social Security and Welfare Spending in Australia: Assessing Long-Term Trends Part 1, 27 Jul 2017
  • Budget Forum 2017: Welfare Changes Stigmatise Recipients and Are Sitting on Shaky Ground, 22 May 2017
  • “Them” and “Us”: The Enduring Power of Welfare Myths, 17 Mar 2017
  • Timing It Wrong: Benefits, Income Tests, Overpayments and Debts, 02 Mar 2017
  • The Dynamics of “Zero Net Taxpayers”: A Lifecourse and Risk Perspective, 21 Nov 2016
  • Zero Net Taxpayers: How Does Australia Compare?, 14 Nov 2016
  • A Related Concept: Net Tax Thresholds, 07 Nov 2016
  • Should We Be Worried About “Zero Net Taxpayers”?, 04 Nov 2016
  • The Tax-Transfer System, Progressivity and Redistribution: How Progressive is the Australian Transfer System?, 10 Dec 2015