Committee for Economic Development of Australia


The Committee for Economic Development of Australia is a bipartisan, non-profit, national, independent, member-based organisation providing thought leadership and policy perspectives on the economic and social issues affecting Australia.
Its expressed aim is to "promote national economic development in a sustainable and socially balanced way." Sydney Morning Herald economics editor Ross Gittins has described CEDA as seeking to "inform the public debate without lobbying". It is financed by around 700 members drawn from business, universities, governments and community groups, and by a program of conferences and other events.

Foundation

CEDA was formed in 1960 by Sir Douglas Copland, one of the most influential figures in Australian economics, and George Le Couteur OBE was President from 1968 until 1974. It was modelled on the US CED, but is now organised along lines more similar to the US Conference Board and the Conference Board of Canada. It is Australia's third-oldest think-tank, after the Institute of Public Affairs and the Australian Institute of International Affairs.
In 1979, after a debate on CEDA's involvement in lobbying, it established a 'Business Roundtable' as an independent entity which in 1983 was merged into the Business Council of Australia.

Research approach

In 2018 CEDA identified its policy stack – technology and data; workplace, workforce and collaboration; population; critical services and institutions. These are issues and areas in which CEDA believes it can play an important role in advancing reforms that will drive progress and connect people to it and be the focus of CEDA's research and advocacy. Rather than identifying strongly with a particular ideological viewpoint in the style of the Centre for Independent Studies, the Institute of Public Affairs or the Australia Institute, it mostly offers conclusions that are near the centre of the policy spectrum. It tends to favour market-oriented or at least price-oriented solutions to issues such as water supply and infrastructure. However, a substantial amount of its social policy work – for instance, on transitional labour markets – is sympathetic to government intervention in appropriate circumstances. It is respected for the quality of its research and its commitment to open debate as a means of identifying good policy outcomes.

Recent research