New research suggests the tying of Australia's aid programme to Australian exporters has little effect on the donor country.
The paper, by Matthew Dornan and Sabit Otor from the Australian National University's development policy centre, looked at the benefits of foreign aid for Australian exporters.
It found that aid spending was hugely beneficial for the national interest, with a return of $7 for every $1 invested, despite the end in 2006 of so called "tied aid" - a requirement for the recipient nation to spend a percentage of the money with Australian firms.
Dr Dornan told Jamie Tahana the research found that calls to return to tied funding would have no benefit for the donor - but it would have a detrimental impact on poverty alleviation programmes.
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