COVER -- HALF-TITLE -- TITLE -- COPYRIGHT -- CONTENTS -- READING THE TABLES -- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- 1 PEOPLE -- Population -- Life expectancy -- Birth rates and the ageing society -- Immigration -- Refugees and asylum-seekers -- Urbanisation -- Human Development Index -- 2 GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS -- Constitutional history -- Heads of state and heads of government -- Federalism -- Parliamentary structures -- Parliamentary operations -- Electoral systems -- Election campaigns and finances -- Party systems and electoral choice -- Types and duration of governments -- Partisan colour of governments -- Electoral participation -- Corruption -- 3 ECONOMY -- Income per capita -- Long-term economic growth -- Contemporary economic performance -- Inflation -- International trade -- Exchange rates -- Industrial structure -- International trade -- Saving and borrowing -- Banking -- Foreign direct investment -- Productivity -- 4 WORK AND THE LABOUR FORCE -- Labour force and population ageing -- Labour force participation -- Older people in the labour force -- Teenagers in the labour force -- Unemployment -- Disadvantage in unemployment -- Part-time work -- Job security -- Working hours -- Trade unions -- Patterns of industrial relations -- 5 GOVERNMENT TAXES AND SPENDING -- Government outlays and taxation -- Components of taxation -- Government deficits and debt -- Privatisation and deregulation -- Performance of Australian governments -- 6 HEALTH -- Total health spending -- Health funding -- Doctors, nurses and pharmaceuticals -- Hospitals -- Medical technology -- Improved life expectancy -- Deaths from external causes -- Death from circulatory diseases -- Death from cancer -- HIV and AIDS -- 7 EDUCATION -- Educational attainment -- Educational expenditure -- Resources to education -- Tertiary education.

Early childhood education and care -- Adult literacy levels -- Student literacy -- Differences in literacy -- Schools' learning environment -- 8 INEQUALITY AND SOCIAL WELFARE -- Inequality of income -- Redistribution of income -- Long-term trends in income distribution -- Poverty -- Social expenditure -- Old age poverty and welfare -- Unemployment benefits -- Child poverty -- Disability -- 9 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS -- Military spending -- Foreign aid -- 10 ENVIRONMENT -- Biodiversity -- Greenhouse gases -- Energy usage -- Air pollution and petrol use -- Pollution control and waste disposal -- Ecological footprint and water usage -- 11 SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY -- Investment in knowledge -- Spending on research and development -- 12 TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND COMPUTING -- Growth in computing and telecommunications -- The Internet -- The telecommunications market -- Telecommunications employment and technological development -- 13 MEDIA -- Television and newspapers -- Television -- Public broadcasting -- New media and pay television -- 14 FAMILY -- Marriage -- Children -- Births to adolescent mothers -- Mothers and work -- Family policies -- 15 GENDER -- Indices of gender inequality -- Gender differences in paid and unpaid work -- Women and occupational inequalities -- Women in public life -- 16 LIFESTYLES AND CONSUMPTION -- Housing and households -- Food consumption -- Obesity -- Hot and cold drinks -- Alcohol -- Tobacco consumption -- Working time to purchase consumer items -- 17 CRIME AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS -- Crime rates -- Homicide and drug-taking -- Police and perceptions of crime -- Punishment -- Suicide -- Young deaths from misadventure -- Deaths from car accidents -- Gambling -- 18 RELIGION, VALUES AND ATTITUDES -- Religious tradition -- Religious beliefs and practices -- Happiness and life satisfaction -- Confidence in public institutions.

Membership of voluntary organisations -- Political interest and activity -- War and nation -- Orientations to politics and the environment -- Attitudes to others -- Attitudes to changes in way of life -- SOURCES AND REFERENCES -- 1 People -- 2 Government and Politics -- 3 Economy -- 4 Work and the Labour Force -- 5 Government Taxes and Spending -- 6 Health -- 7 Education -- 8 Social Welfare -- 9 International Relations -- 10 Environment -- 11 Science and Technology -- 12 Telecommunications and Computing -- 13 Media -- 14 Family -- 15 Gender -- 16 Lifestyle -- 17 Social Problems -- 18 Values and Attitudes -- TABLES -- 1 People -- 2 Government and Politics -- 3 Economy -- 4 Work and the Labour Force -- 5 Government Taxes and Spending -- 6 Health -- 7 Education -- 8 Inequality and Social Welfare -- 9 International Relations -- 10 Environment -- 11 Science and Technology -- 12 Telecommunications and Computing -- 13 Media -- 14 Family -- 15 Gender -- 16 Lifestyles and Consumption -- 17 Crime and Social Problems -- 18 Religion, Values and Attitudes.