Commonwealth Bank Australia
V. Country Narratives -- Countries A through G
Australia is a destination country for women from Southeast Asia, South Korea, and the People’s Republic of China (P.R.C.) who are trafficked for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Some of these women travel to Australia voluntarily to work in both legal and illegal brothels but are deceived or coerced into debt bondage or sexual servitude. The Government of Australia fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. The Commonwealth’s Action Plan to Eradicate Trafficking in Persons provided substantial financial and personnel resources to combat the problem both domestically and internationally. Over the last year, the government further refined its anti-trafficking program. In 2004, the government made significant and greater efforts to combat trafficking, including develop ... [Read More]
USIS Washington File: TEXT: INVESTIGATIVE MEDIA NEEDED TO FIGHT CORRUPTION
Increasingly, evidence gathered by the World Bank and Transparency International suggests that cronyism, nepotism, bribery -- corruption petty and grand -- sands rather than greases even the strictly economic machinery of society. The costs of corruption for the underlying social and political culture are harder to measure. Yet judging by political stability, social cohesion, and citizen support for the state, the costs are immense, particularly in the developing world. ... [Read More]
Background Notes Archive - East Asia and the Pacific
Background Notes: Australia, October 1998Released by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific AffairsU.S. Department of StateOfficial Name: Commonwealth of AustraliaPROFILEGeographyArea: 7.7 million sq. km. (3 million sq. mi.); about the size of the 48 continental United States.Cities: (1998) Capital--Canberra (pop. 310,100). Other cities--Sydney (4.0 million), Melbourne (3.5 million), Brisbane (1.5 million), Perth (1.3 million).Terrain: Varied, but generally low-lying.Climate: Relatively dry, ranging from temperate in the south to tropical in the north.PeopleNationality: Noun and adjective--Australian(s).Population (1998): 18.7 million.Annual growth rate: 1.3%.Ethnic groups: European 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal 1%.Religions: Anglican 22%, Roman Catholic 27%, other Christian 22%, other non-Christian 3%, No religion 17%.Languages: English.Education: Years compulsory--to age 15 in all states except Tasmania, where it is 16. Literacy--99%.Health: Infant mortality rat ... [Read More]
Background Notes Archive - East Asia and the Pacific
U.S. Department of State Background Notes: Australia, November 1997 Released by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.Official Name: Commonwealth of AustraliaPROFILEGeographyArea: 7.7 million sq. km. (3 million sq. mi.); about the size of the 48 continental United States.Cities: Capital--Canberra (pop. 310,100). Other cities--Sydney (3.7 million), Melbourne (3.1 million), Brisbane (1.3 million), Perth (1.2 million).Terrain: Varied, but generally low-lying.Climate: Relatively dry, ranging from temperate in the south to tropical in the north.PeopleNationality: Noun and adjective--Australian(s).Population (1997): 18.3 million.Annual growth rate: 1.3%.Ethnic groups: European 92%, Asian 7%, Aboriginal 1%.Religions: Anglican 26%, Roman Catholic 26%, other Christian 24%, non-Christian 11%.Languages: English.Education: Years compulsory--to age 15 in all states except Tasmania, where it is 16. Literacy--99%.Health: Infant mortality rate--6/1,000. Life expect ... [Read More]
Background Notes Archive - East Asia and the Pacific
U.S. Department of StateBackground Notes: Australia, May 1996Bureau of East Asian and Pacific AffairsPrepared and released by the Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Office of Australia and New Zealand AffairsMay 1996Official Name: Commonwealth of AustraliaPROFILEGeographyArea: 7.7 million sq. km. (3 million sq. mi.); about the size of the 48 continental United States.Cities: Capital--Canberra (pop. 310,100). Other cities--Sydney (3.7 million), Melbourne (3.1 million), Brisbane (1.3 million), Perth (1.2 million).Terrain: Varied, but generally low-lying.Climate: Relatively dry, ranging from temperate in the south to tropical in the north.PeopleNationality: Noun and adjective--Australian(s).Population (1995): 18.2 million.Annual growth rate: 1.1%.Ethnic groups: European 94%, Asian 5%, Aboriginal 1%.Religions: Anglican 24%, Roman Catholic 26%.Languages: English.Education: Years compulsory--to age 15 in all states except Tasmania, where it is 16. Literacy ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: World Bank Highlights Foreign Investment in Developing World
Like FDI, remittances are a more stable source of external finance than debt. Indeed, remittances tend to be counter-cyclical, buffering other shocks, since economic downturns encourage additional workers to migrate abroad and those already abroad increase the amount of money they send to families left behind. For most of the 1990s, remittances have exceeded official development assistance. Recent trends, including tighter restrictions on informal transfers and lower banking fees mean that remittances through the banking system are likely to continue to rise. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: World Bank Report on Developing and Transition Economies in 2000
Contact Person: Phil Hay (202) 473-1796 Phay@worldbank.org Stevan Jackson (202) 458-5054 Sjackson@worldbank.org Cynthia Case McMahon (TV/Radio) (202) 473-2243 Ccase@worldbank.org ... Late in 2000, Turkey's economy experienced a banking sector crisis, induced in large part by mismatches in 2002, driven largely by export growth and a restoration of investor confidence tied to improved policy performance. Confidence in Turkey had improved early in 2000, prompted by the initiation in January of the three-year IMF stabilization program, which was centered on the crawling peg regime. However, late in the year, because of both internal and external factors, confidence weakened when rapid deterioration in the current account balance and delays in the privatization program, along with growing banking sector imbalances, induced some investors to cash their Turkish holdings. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: IMF, World Bank Meetings Produce Support for CIS-7 Initiative
At their meeting today in Washington, Ministers lent their support to an initiative to help the seven low-income countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States - Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Kyrgyz Republic, Moldova, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan - accelerate poverty reduction and economic growth, while ensuring sustainable fiscal and external debt positions. The Initiative, sponsored jointly by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Asian Development Bank, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, rests on the CIS-7 countries intensifying - and assuming more ownership over - their development and reform efforts. At the same time, the international community is prepared to provide support to countries following strong reform policies. ... [Read More]
Department of State Washington File: Text: World Bank, IMF Focus on Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body of 33 member nations based at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), is responsible for the development of the international standards for anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) and the common methodology for assessment of the AML/CFT standards. The FATF worked in conjunction with the Bank and Fund and FSRBs on revisions to the standards and the methodology which now have been endorsed by the Fund and Bank. There is agreement that the Fund, the Bank and the FATF will all use the common methodology in their forthcoming AML/CFT assessments and mutual evaluations. Similarly, the FSRBs are expected to agree to use the common methodology in their mutual evaluations. Through this common approach to assessments and close coordination of assessment schedules, there will be greater efficiency in the use of staffing resources. ... [Read More]
Australia (12/04)
The six colonies that now constitute the states of the Australian Commonwealth were established in the following order: New South Wales, 1788; Tasmania, 1825; Western Australia, 1830; South Australia, 1836; Victoria, 1851; and Queensland, 1859. Settlement had preceded these dates in most cases. Discussions between Australian and British representatives led to adoption by the British Government of an act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia in 1900. Since Federation, the Commonwealth Government has established to two self-governing territories: the Northern Territory, 1978; and the Australian Capital Territory (where the national capital, Canberra, is located), 1989. ... [Read More]
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