Publications

Featured Report

Assessment of the Consolidation of the Australian Customs and Border Protection Service (ACBPS) with the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP)

In 2014, the Australian government integrated its Customs and Border Protection Service and the Department of Immigration and Border Protection. Analysis examines what these organisations looked like separately, and provides guidance for the newly formed single department.

Health

RAND Australia's health and healthcare research has been developed through multidisciplinary teams with backgrounds in evaluation and performance management, research evaluation, science policy, international health care, and public health systems and policy.

Research Brief

What Can Be Done About Dementia?

Policy options to improve dementia long-term care include those that increase public awareness and promote earlier detection, improve access to and quality of services, increase support to family caregivers, and reduce the cost burden.
Research Brief

Understanding the returns from cardiovascular and stroke research

Project Retrosight analysed 29 case studies of cardiovascular and stroke research in Australia, Canada and the UK, examining the diversity of impact produced by this kind of research and identifying factors associated with various levels of payback.
Report

International Review of Approaches to Funding Intensive Care

A review of international approaches for funding intensive care shows there is no obvious example of "best practice" or dominant approach used by a majority of hospital systems. Each approach has advantages and disadvantages, particularly in relation to the financial risk involved in providing intensive care.
Report

Regulating Quality and Safety of Health and Social Care

Many Western countries have health and social care standards but implement and apply these standards in different ways. Different regulatory mechanisms and policy instruments encourage and ensure continuous quality improvement.
Report

Healthcare Interventions Insufficient To Tackle Alcohol-Related Harms

While some interventions in healthcare settings can be effective in reducing alcohol harms at the individual level, they are unlikely to reduce morbidity and mortality at the aggregate population level, according to a study by RAND for the National Audit Office that examines healthcare interventions in Australia, Canada, the United States, Germany and The Netherlands.
Report

International Comparison of Neonatal Services

A study commissioned by the UK National Audit Office (NAO) analyses the provision of neonatal services in seven countries: Australia,Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, the U.S., Canada, and Sweden. Findings determined that all countries studied use neonatal networks, but with varying levels of formalisation, that low staffing is a problem for UK neonatal services, and that a few international regions are leaders in high-quality neonatal service provision.

Community & Economic Development

RAND Australia's programme of research on community and economic development is growing, and to date has helped decisionmakers at the national and Australasia levels better understand and develop policies related to transportation demand modeling at urban, regional, and national levels and structural energy performance.

Report

Updating Models for Transport Demand in Sydney, Australia

The Sydney Strategic Travel Model (STM) informs long-term transport planning, policy development and infrastructure assessment across the Greater Sydney area. Additional model estimation work has further improved the commute mode-destination model.
Report

Improving the Energy Performance of Buildings: Learning from Australia and the European Union

The United States can become more energy efficient and create more "green" jobs by adopting some of the strategies used by Australia and the European Union to rate and disclose the performance of commercial and government-owned buildings.
Report

Enhancement of the Pivot Point Process Used in the Sydney Strategic Travel Model

In the third of three reports, research findings reveal what to expect for future travel patterns, long term transport planning, policy development, and infrastructure assessment across the Greater Sydney area.
Report

Modelling Transport Demand in Sydney, Australia

Transport for New South Wales (NSW) operates the Sydney Strategic Travel Model (STM) to inform transport planning, policy development, and infrastructure assessment in Sydney. RAND implemented new travel frequency, mode, and destination model components of the STM; extended the model scope to include toll road choice and better access to trains, and analysed and enhanced the pivoting component of the STM to predict travel patterns.

Education

RAND Australia acknowledges the challenges that the country faces in delivering education that impacts employment and economic growth. We provide research and analysis that informs policy and decisionmaking relating to access to and quality in higher education, curriculum development, and innovation in education.

Report

Implementation of New Curriculum Arrangements for 14-19 Year Olds

The National Audit Office commissioned RAND to undertake a comparative study investigating the implementation of education programmes for 14-19 year olds in Australia, the Netherlands, and Sweden, in order to identify lessons that could lead to improvements in implementation and delivery of the new 14-19 Diplomas.
Report

How Do Universities Identify and Demonstrate Impact?

The Australian Technology Network of Universities asked RAND Europe to review the Excellence in Innovation for Australia (EIA) Impact Assessment Trial ('the EIA Trial'), in order to assess how well universities identified and demonstrated impact, as well as how the process could be further improved.
Report

Understanding the Impact of Differential University Fees in England

Despite tuition of up to £9000 per year for higher education institutions in England, applications continue to rise. Aside from tuition fees, employment prospects, living expenses, university location, and course quality are important influences on prospective students' university choices.
Journal Article

How Effective Are Approaches to Higher Ed Provision in Increasing Access, Quality, and Completion for Students in Developing Countries?

Access to and quality in higher education in developing countries is a debated topic. Research shows that fee sharing, dual-track tuition policies, and different student loan types may increase access, but could shift some costs from the government to the student. The cost of such programmes and long-term sustainability also must be weighed.

Defence & National Security

RAND Australia defence research covers a wide range of topics for policy makers in Australia and beyond. The RAND Corporation has long been recognized for its contributions to defence and security policy; RAND Australia advances this tradition with expertise and coverage of key defence issues such as security, international alliances, and submarine engineering and design.

Report

Organising for Peace Operations: Lessons Learned from Bougainville, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands

Experts evaluate the key agencies that participated in three Australian-led interventions in the late 1990s and early 2000s—Bougainville, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands—providing useful insight for the preparation and conduct of operations outside Australia.
Report

Contestability Frameworks: An International Horizon Scan

As part of the restructure of the Australian Department of Defence (ADoD), there are several ways to implement contestability functions that review ADoD's requirements, acquisition, and budget decisions internally before they are passed to other elements in the government.
Report

When Jihadis Come Marching Home

Although the numbers of Westerners slipping off to join the jihadist fronts in Syria and Iraq are murky, U.S. counterterrorism officials believe that those fighters pose a clear and present danger to American security.
Report

Increase in Jihadist Threat Calls for New U.S. Strategy to Combat Terrorism

Since 2010, there has been a 58 percent increase in the number of jihadist groups, a doubling of fighters, and a tripling of attacks by al Qaeda affiliates. The U.S. cannot afford to withdraw or remain disengaged from key parts of North Africa, the Middle East, or South Asia.
Report

Australia Has Considerable Expertise in Submarine Design, but Gaps Still Exist

The Royal Australian Navy intends to acquire 12 new submarines to replace its Collins-class vessels. RAND assessed the domestic engineering and design skills that Australian industry and government will need to design the new submarine, identified the skills they currently possess, and evaluated how to fill any gaps between the two.
Report

Lessons from the Submarine Programs of the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia

An examination of five submarine programs in the three countries—the UK's Astute program; the U.S. Navy's Ohio, Seawolf, and Virginia programs; and Australia's Collins program—identifies lessons that could help inform future program managers.
Report

What are lessons from U.S. Allies in Security Cooperation with Australia, France, and the U.K.?

Like the U.S. Air Force, many U.S. allies work with partner countries on security matters, sometimes even with the same partners, but on a smaller scale. But how, where, and why do these allies engage the same countries? Numerous challenges exist within the security cooperation approaches of three U.S. allies: Australia, France, and the United Kingdom.