The two largest providers offshore may each have 10% of the global market, estimates Jason Sharman, an Australian professor who studies the industry.

ECONOMIST: Company formation

The index, compiled by Mercer and the Australian Centre for Financial Studies, attempts to compare the widely varying systems of the countries in three broad areas: adequacy, sustainability and integrity.

FORBES: Mercer Study: U.S. Pension System Ranks Low

In their paper, the Australian team noted that wider studies of larger groups could provide more definitive results.

FORBES: Can Web Surfing Ward Off Dementia?

Most states have rolled Australian history into social-studies courses, often rather muddled.

ECONOMIST: Learning about the past

"With colonisation came the deliberate subversion of these languages, " said Dr Bill Fogarty from the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University.

BBC: Lost indigenous language revived in Australia

Separate studies of American and Australian Gulf-war veterans show that the more pills veterans took, the worse their health is today.

ECONOMIST: Was Gulf-war syndrome caused by chemical poisoning?