In recent decades technology has revolutionised the way companies do business and workers do their jobs. From the very top of organisations to the most menial and low-paid roles, the great majority of employees now use information and communication technology to some extent for work. Some spend their entire working lives in front of a

The recent debate about productivity trends in Australia has revolved around the reported decline in labour productivity growth. For example, the new Secretary of the Treasury, Dr Martin Parkinson recently stated: “Australia’s productivity growth, measured in terms of both labour productivity and multifactor productivity, has slowed, and there is little reason to believe it will

It is commonplace in Australian policy debate for groups presumed to be adversely affected by proposed policies to provide estimates of the undesirable consequences of change. A fashionable form relates to predictions of job losses for the group affected, usually accompanied by counter-claims made by the government of the day or other groups in favour

Time, as they say, is money. In fact, one of the most important aspects of our lives – what we do for a living – involves exchanging our time, in the form of labour, for money. Yet, millions of Australians ‘donate’ unpaid overtime to their employers on a regular basis. Like money, time is vital

The Coalition has proposed to cut the size of the Commonwealth public service workforce by 12,000 over the next two years. There has been considerable debate in Canberra, which employs more Commonwealth public servants than any other city, about the likely impact of such a contraction on the local economy. In addition to the direct

This paper reveals that Australian workers are ‘donating’ more than their annual leave entitlement back to their employers in the form of unpaid overtime. The typical full-time employee in Australia works 70 minutes of unpaid overtime a day. This equates to 33 eight-hour days per year, or six and a half standard working weeks. Something

In responding to the release of the recent Productivity Commission (PC) draft report into paid parental leave, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stated: ‘This Australian Government believes the time has come to bite the bullet on this and we intend to do so’. He did not however commit to addressing the issue before the 2009 Federal

This Discussion Paper reviews the former Government’s ‘Choice of Fund’ policy and proposes a range of improvements to the way default superannuation funds are chosen.

Our submission supports a minimum of 26 weeks paid leave. This would be funded through a mix of employment related and government transfer payments to families. The government transfers would be available to working and non-working families while employment related entitlements would apply to working women and men.

Compares commuting times by city, occupation and socio-economic group and considers the effects of long commuting times on family relationships and social life.

New Studies have shown that Australia works the longest hours per year than any other industrialised country, and 500 hours more than Norway. This has been linked to less productivity and less time to buy luxury goods. The recommendation is to significantly reduce the working hours per week. 

A study of the attitudes of teenagers showing that the gender wars are set to continue into the next generation with boys and girls making conflicting plans about who will do the housework and look after the children.

Deferred Happiness Syndrome affects 30% of Australians and occurs when employees are not satisfied with work but do it to achieve happiness later on, often through money and material interests. This often results in downshifters that voluntarily reduce working hours to ensure better lifestyles.

Examines the perspective of young people about their parents’ paid and unpaid work, its implications for their lives and the links between work and consumption.

Explores in detail the life changes and attitudes of 20 downshifters to answer the questions prompted by the first study on downshifting completed in January 2003. The in-depth interviews were augmented by four focus groups held across the country and aimed to explain why people downshift, how they change, how others react, what are their

Australians may believe that they live in the land of the long weekend but new data lead The Australia Institute to question this assumption.

More than half of the workforce would forgo a 4% pay rise, if it guaranteed them an extra two weeks leave annually. This would create approx. 146,000 new jobs, and help address the over 1 million underemployed and unemployed Australians.

The system of labour market statistics in Australia is in urgent need of reform. In addition to calling for the collection of new data on the desired amount of work for all workers, this report outlines the benefits of work sharing, and suggests mechanisms for achieving a fairer distribution of work.

This paper examines the relationship between recessions and the size and duration of long-term unemployment. The results should leave us in no doubt that just a few poor years of economic growth have very significant medium-term implications for long-term unemployment.

This study comprises a comprehensive assessment of public spending on education, employment, health and housing services for indigenous Australians compared with non-indigenous Australians. It shows that, contrary to claims made recently, public spending on programs for indigenous people is not excessive, and the advantages indigenous people gain from this expenditure are minuscule compared with the

The increasing growth in Australian cannot be matched with employment. To counter oncoming large unemployment there needs to be a ‘work-sharing scheme.’ Such a scheme would allow more jobs and give workers more leisure time, thus solving the rise in unemployment.

At a time of high and chronic unemployment, Australia is also faced with a crisis of overwork. Work-related stress and illness have been intensifying while the social problems associated with mass unemployment multiply. There are a number of flexible work schemes operating or under negotiation in Australia, but so far they affect very few employees.