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Economics
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May 2022
Working With COVID: Insecure Jobs, Sick Pay, and Public Health
Almost one in five Australians (and a higher proportion of young workers) acknowledge working with potential COVID symptoms over the course of the pandemic, according to new opinion research published by the Centre for Future Work. The research confirms the public health dangers of Australia’s existing patchwork system of sick leave and related entitlements. The main
The Wages Crisis Revisited
A comprehensive review of Australian wage trends indicates that wage growth is likely to remain stuck at historically weak levels despite the dramatic disruptions experienced by the Australian labour market through the COVID-19 pandemic. The report finds that targeted policies to deliberately lift wages are needed to break free of the low-wage trajectory that has
November 2021
The Future of Work in Journalism
Information industries have lost some 60,000 jobs in Australia in the last 15 years, almost half during the COVID-19 pandemic. And a new research report highlights the need for active policy supports to stabilise the media industry, and protect the public good function of quality journalism. The new report, The Future of Work in Journalism,
October 2021
Shock Troops of the Pandemic
New research confirms that workers in casual and insecure jobs have borne the lion’s share of job losses during the COVID-19 pandemic – both the first lockdowns in 2020, and the more recent second wave of closures. Since May, workers in casual and part-time jobs have suffered over 70% of job losses from renewed lockdowns and
September 2021
An Avoidable Catastrophe
Australia’s universities were uniquely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and recession — including the closure of borders to most international students, the implementation of new COVID-safe instruction practices, and effective exclusion from Commonwealth support programs like JobKeeper. Now, 18 months after the borders were first closed, things are getting worse for universities, not better. New research from
May 2021
Investing in Better Mental Health in Australian Workplaces
Australian society is experiencing an epidemic of mental illness that imposes enormous costs on individuals with poor mental health, their families, and the broader economy. There is no doubt that the stress, isolation and disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has made this crisis even worse. Unsafe workplaces contribute significantly to the incidence of mental
Funding High-Quality Aged Care Services
Implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will require additional Commonwealth funding of at least $10 billion per year, and there are several revenue tools which the government could use to raise those funds. While the Royal Commission’s 148 recommendations were not explicitly costed, the Centre’s report shows that
Missing a Stitch in Time:
Australia’s electricity industry constitutes a large and critical component of our national economic infrastructure. The industry produces $25 billion per year in value- added. It employs around 50,000 Australians, paying out $6 billion per year in wages and salaries. It makes $45 billion in annual purchases from a diverse and far-reaching supply chain, that provides
December 2020
2020 Year-End Labour Market Review: Insecure Work and the Covid-19 Pandemic
Australia’s labour market experienced unprecedented volatility during 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and resulting recession. In the first part of the year, employment declined faster and more deeply than in any previous economic downturn, as workplaces were closed to control the spread of infection. Then, after May, employment rebounded strongly. The subsequent recovery has
September 2020
Pay Equity in Community Services
The failure of the Commonwealth to confirm that it will maintain funding for community service organisations could threaten up to 12,000 jobs in that sector, at a moment when those services are critical to Australia’s pandemic-damaged economy. That’s the conclusion of new research on the economic importance of Commonwealth pay equity funding, conducted by the
August 2020
The Robots are NOT Coming
July 2020
A Fair Share for Australian Manufacturing
October 2019
The Future of Work for Australian Graduates
January 2019
What’s a Million, Anyway?
Australia’s Upside-Down Labour Market
Workers produce more, but get paid less. Business invests less in real capital, but their profits grow. Technology advances at breakneck pace, but so many jobs are degraded and menial (not to mention horribly paid). What gives? Australia’s labour market truly seems “upside down.” In this article reprinted from Western Teacher magazine (published by the
December 2018
Private Sector Wage Growth Still in Doldrums
New data on private-sector business conditions confirm that wage increases paid in the private sector of Australia’s economy continue to plumb record lows. The ABS’s quarterly Business Indicators report, released yesterday, indicates total wages and salaries paid out by private businesses grew 4.3 percent in the September quarter, compared to year-earlier levels. This only slightly
November 2018
Under the Employer’s Eye: Electronic Monitoring & Surveillance in Australian Workplaces
Each year the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute conducts a public survey of Australian working hours, as part of our annual “Go Home on Time Day” (GHOTD) initiative. Findings from the survey regarding hours worked, preferences for more or less hours, and the incidence of unpaid overtime are reported in a companion study.
A Secret Weapon in the Fight Against Financial Misconduct
October 2018
The Future of Transportation Work: Special Series, WA Transport
A special 6-part series of short articles from WA Transport Magazine: Researchers have identified the transportation industry as one of the sectors likely to be most affected by the coming implementation of new technologies: such as self-driving vehicles, artificial intelligence, and automated logistics systems. How will transportation workers fare as these technologies are rolled out, and
August 2018
Four Views on Basic Income, Job Guarantees, and the Future of Work
The unprecedented insecurity of work in Australia’s economy – with the labour market buffeted by technology, globalisation, and new digital business models – has sparked big thinking about policies for addressing this insecurity and enhancing the incomes and well-being of working people. Two ideas which have generated much discussion and debate are proposals for a
Exploring the Decline in the Labour Share of GDP
The share of total economic output in Australia that is paid to workers (in the form of wages, salaries, and superannuation contributions) has been declining for decades. Workers produce more real output with each hour of labour (thanks to ongoing efficiency improvements and productivity growth), but growth in real wages has been much slower –
June 2018
Penalty Rates and Employment: One Year Later
On 1 July 2018, workers in several retail and hospitality industries will experience a second reduction in the penalty rates they receive for working on Sundays and public holidays. The reductions were ordered by the Fair Work Commission, and follow an initial reduction imposed on 1 July 2017. Employer representatives argued that by reducing labour
Advanced Skills for Advanced Manufacturing
Australia’s manufacturing industry is at a crossroads. After years of decline, the sector has finally found a more stable economic footing, and many indicators point to an expansion in domestic manufacturing in the coming years. Manufacturing added almost 50,000 new jobs in the last year – making it one of the most important sources of
May 2018
The Dimensions of Insecure Work: A Factbook
This factbook reviews eleven different dimensions of job security in Australia, and documents a clear and multi-faceted deterioration in the overall stability of work in the period from 2012 (the peak of the resources investment boom) to the present.
Raising the Bar: How Government Can Use its Economic Leverage to Lift Labour Standards Throughout the Economy
For at least five years now, Australia’s labour market has demonstrated signs of a structural shift that has undermined traditional patterns of wage determination, and eroded the quality and security of work. The economic and social consequences of this sea change in the world of work are severe and far-reaching: flat real wages (the worst
Wages, Taxes, and the Budget
The Coalition government’s 2018 budget features a plan to cut personal income taxes for many Australians over the next several years. The government claims it wants to reward lower- and middle-income wage-earners with tax savings. However, the biggest personal tax reductions would not be experienced until 2022 and beyond (after at least two more federal
April 2018
Rebuilding the NSW Workers Compensation System
Workers compensation benefits in New South Wales were dramatically reduced in 2012 by a newly-elected state government, citing an alleged financial crisis in the system. Benefit payments (adjusted for inflation) declined 25 percent in just five years – and some cuts are still being imposed on injured workers and their families (including some losing benefits
A Portable Training Entitlement System for the Disability Support Services Sector
A new proposal for a portable training system for disability support workers under the NDIS would help to ensure the program achieves its goal of delivering high-quality, individualised services to people with disabilities. The proposal is developed in a new report from the Centre for Future Work. Under the plan, disability support workers would receive
Inquiry into the BCA Commitment to the Senate
The present submission questions the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) Commitment to increasing investment, employment and wages in the event that the outstanding tax cuts are legislated. We looked specifically at the 10 corporate CEOs who made the commitment on behalf of their companies and found some half of those paid no tax. One wonders
March 2018
Subsidising Billionaires: Simulating the Net Incomes of UberX Drivers in Australia
Uber’s rapid growth in point-to-point transportation services has become the most potent symbol of the growth of the so-called “gig economy”: where people perform work on an irregular, on-demand basis, paid by the task, and without the stability or security of traditional paid employment. The expansion of this model has raised concerns regarding the erosion