The following pages contains link to a wide range of Government resources which are relevant to VCE Economics. Top VCE sites is a selection of Government web sites which are directly relevant to VCE Economics. Here you will find links to Treasury and the Reserve Bank etc. The Project site page carries a loosely classified list of links to other Government sites which might prove useful to students doing projects eg on transport or the environment. Lastly at the bottom of the page there is a search engine which allows you to search all Government sites directly.
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Students who wish to browse or select resources not listed below can access a complete listing of Federal Government Departments and Agencies at Australian Commonwealth Government Entry Point . This site also provides links to the Offices of the Ministers responsible for each department , This is a very quick way to find the biographical details of each Minister and who is in charge of your Department. A list of links to business related material on the Government site is available at Business Entry Point - Home Page Students may search the Federal Government directory at the link above or search for members of parliament using the Government Search page Gold Directory. Finally the Goverment provides a portal to all Government sites where material is organised around themes at Australia.gov. This is a good place to start for people unfamiliar with the Internet. Australian Government Entry Point covers all levels of Government in Australia -both Federal,State and Local Government Entry
Treasury This site contains links to Federal Government Budget papers as well as a series of highly relevant press releases. Students should look for all the releases relating to Economic Round Up.
The Government Budget site at Budget.gov.au contains both summary and extended documentation of past and current budgets as well as the Governments Mid Year Fiscal outlook statement. Australian Department of Finance & Administration (DOFA) This department manages the Governments budget. Australian Taxation Office It collects the Governments revenues. The following sites carry exhaustive details on current tax reform.GST Start-up Assistance Office
The Australian Government Actuary contains a range of topical estimates often used in costing various Government programs for the budget.
The Commonwealth Treasurer Site of the Federal Treasurer
Australian Office of Financial Manangement Body responsible for managing the Governments debt.
House of Representative Committee on Economics, Trade and Public Finance
Senate Economics Committee Parliamentary committee's that regularly investigate economic affairs.
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet often contains topical material on current issues.
Each Government site or agency tends to use their own headings for the links to material on their site, hence you will need to use your common sense. The following terms however frequently appear.

About us. This section may be called corporate overview, about the department or some similar name. here you will usual find details of departmental officers, the minister and what the purpose and function of the department actually is. Here you will also find a brief description of the departments activities.

Publications. In sections which are titled publications, resources, you will usually find all the material which has been published by the department and on most occasions a few freebies which you can down load. Often this section will have summaries of economic information provided by departments which are relevant to the VCE course.

Online Resources This section may be titled , links, other sites and usually contains links to other web sites which often contain material useful to VCE economic students.

Media Releases and What's New. These links will take you to current statements by the minister and usually a comprehensive list of press releases by the Department. If you want to know what the department or agency is doing now, what it's current priorities and polices are, this is a very good place to look.

Economic Research If you are lucky your site may have an economics research link. This will be useful, however make sure you also look in the places mentioned above. Often you will find many good economic resources in the above places and not in the economic research section.

Be sensible. Take your time to have a good look around. There is no standard format for Government sites and hence different sites have different headings. The easiest way to overcome this problem is to visit most links on a site if that is practical. You will often find excellent resources in unlikely places. Happy surfing.

Finally if you have forgotten to bring the database form you can copy down the questions and table or print them by going to the Activity page.

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Reserve Bank of Australia This site contains material directly relevant to the course. Of particular note are the downloadable files in PDF format of the various semi annual statements on Monetary Policy and the quarterly articles published in the Bulletin on Economic performance. A range of speeches and press releases issued by the RBA are also directly relevant to VCE Economics. VCE students will find the press releases outlining the Banks reasons for changing interest rates particularly useful.

Department of Finance and Administration Department responsible for keeping a reign on Commonwealth spending and ensuring Commonwealth funds are spent wisely.

APRA - Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
This authority is responsible for ensuring the financial system is properly stable and sensibly manages it's depositors funds. The following list of Commissions are there to ensure fair and proper conduct by respective insititution.Australian Securities Commission
Australian Securities and Investments Commission enforces and regulates company and financial services laws to protect consumers, investors and creditors.
AUSTRAC - Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre Australia's anti-money laundering regulator and specialist financial intelligence unit. 
 
The Royal Australian Mint, Canberra, Australia The mint produces and maintains the actual supply of real notes and coins in Australia
Productivity Commission | Home Outlines the role of the commission and contains many reports of interest to teachers. From memory last time I visited I downloaded a report on waterfront productivity.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Outlines the role of this new institution and contains much material relevant to Micro economic Reform.
Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics
Homepage National Competition Council Oversees the system of competition regulation to ensure it is working properly

AusIndustry This site contains a current report with stats and graphs on the manufacturing industry as well as other useful material. Industry This links takes you to the what's new section and the current Ministers particulars.

Department of Industry,Tourism and Resources,This site carries a great range of material relevant to sustainable development, resource depletion and industry economics and programs.

Government Self Regulation Site Site containin details of the Governments attempts to encourage industry self regulation.

The Government Takeovers Panel Advises the Government on takeovers.

Backing Australia's Ability Webs site set up to support the Governments innovation intiatives.

Department of Science Eductation and Training This site has a great deal of material relevant to Micro Economic reform, Education and Training. Material on Science and innovation is also available.

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics The proceedings of ABARE annual outlook conference are available to be read online. This contains forecasts of changes in commodity prices and reports on world growth prospects. ABARE provides commodity forecasts market monitors and much economic commentary online. A great site for anyone investigating rural markets.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia - AgricultureThis site contains a great deal of material relevant to rural economics. Of particular interest are the links to other sites dealing with issues of sustainable development and farming. Many of the reports on rural economic indicators and other information would be particularly relevant to students in the country

National Land and Water Audit Keeps a stock of Australia's natural and other assets including bio diversity.

National Heritage Board Administers the Heritage Fund and other large environmental projects.

Australian WorkPlace will help you find information on employment, workplace relations, government assistance, jobs, careers, training and wages. This is the Governments workplace portal. Contains a job outlook section of the website detailing National Skill Shortages and Surpluses. The Labour Market Information section of this site carries information and statistics on skilled job vacancies and aggregate and regional labour market information.

Department of Employment and Workplace Relations The main department responsible for employment programs.

JobJuice Job assistance portal for school leavers

Australian Bureau of Statistics The press releases sections of the ABS frequently contains summary reports of their publications. Many students will find the summary reports on economic indicators useful. It also contains a section which provides current graphs of Key National Economic Indicators. These can be copied for use in CATS etc.
Foreign Investment Review Board The FIRB advises the Government on whether or not to permit certain foreign companies to invest in Australia.

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade DFAT offer excellent and up to date resources on Australia's trade relations with the rest of the world.

Austrade Austrade offer students resources on all matters relating to exports and exporting.

Australian Aid Abroad AusAid Details Australia's assistance to other countries.

Australian Parliamentary Library This site in the MESI section ,Monthly Economic and Social Indicators contains a mass of current statistics, commentary and graphs. The Current Issues section and the Background papers section all contain a range of material relevant to economics teachers and students.
Parliament of Australia: Hansard Search Hansard for current statements on economic policies