Mandating sector-wide aged care training requirements would make elderly Australians safer while bolstering workforce stability, according to a new analysis by the Australia Institute.

The Journal of Australian Political Economy, a peer-reviewed journal based at the University of Sydney, has today published a special issue evaluating the record of the Albanese government during the first half of its term in office.

Despite record-low unemployment, Australian employers are still managing to steal more than 280 hours from their employees each year.

An urgent overhaul of poorly paid and casualised disability support work is needed to ensure the National Disability Insurance Scheme’s viability and protect participants from substandard care, a new report by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work says.

Historically high corporate profits must take a hit if workers are to claw back real wage losses from the inflationary crisis, according to new research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work.

Australia risks being left out of lucrative new markets for renewable energy-related manufacturing unless government provides an urgent, domestic response to match powerful incentives introduced by the U.S and several other industrial nations. The finding is published in a new report released today by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, as part of the

Former Australian Council of Trade Unions president Sharan Burrow will deliver the second annual Carmichael Lecture on August 16. Ms Burrow, who was ACTU president for a decade from 2000, was also general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation between 2010 and 2022. She will speak on the topic ‘Global Worker Solidarity for a

Today’s 5.75% award wage increase is a necessary boost for the lowest paid workers but does not keep pace with inflation. The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has today explicitly said this increase “will consequently not cause or contribute to any ‘wage price spiral’”. Key Points: Award wage increase of 5.75% is less than inflation, which

Despite a mainstream shift in the national conversation away from baseless claims of a “wage-price spiral”, some big business proponents and conservative economists appear unwilling to accept the economic evidence of a profit-price spiral.

New research reveals the growth of ‘gig’ employment in the NDIS and care sector is undermining minimum employment conditions for tens of thousands of workers, with thousands of workers likely earning below-award wages, missing out on superannuation and experiencing inferior WHS protections and gender pay equality outcomes.

A 7% National Minimum Wage rise for low paid workers would help tackle the rising cost of living for those on award wages while having a virtually undetectable impact on economy-wide prices, new research from leading economists at the Centre for Future Work has found. The data comes as the Fair Work Commission deliberates about

New research released on International Women’s Day reveals Australian women earn $1.01m less over their working lives than men, based on median income data. Women earn $136,000 less in superannuation over their working lives than men, based on median income data. Women earning the median wage will accumulate approximately $393,676 in super, $151,000 below what

New empirical research reveals the main driver for inflation in Australia is excess corporate profits, not wages, and that inflation would have stayed within the RBA target band if corporates had not squeezed consumers through the pandemic via excess price hikes.

The Carmichael Centre at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work is proud to announce the appointment of Prof. David Peetz, one of Australia’s most outstanding labour policy experts, as the new Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow. Prof. Emeritus Peetz has recently retired from a long career at Griffith University, where he served as Professor

Industrial Relations Reform Sets Stage for Significant Acceleration of Wage Growth.

New research shows Australian workers are on average working 6 weeks unpaid overtime per year, costing over $92 billion dollars in unpaid wages across the economy. The average worker is losing over $8,000 per year or $315 per fortnight due to what researchers have branded “time theft”. 23 November 2022 marks Go Home on Time

Proposed reforms to Australia’s industrial relations laws are likely to support higher coverage for collective bargaining in the national labour market, and provide a boost to stagnant wage growth according to new research from the Centre for Future Work. The report reviews historical data on the erosion of collective bargaining in Australia, and its close

New research from the Centre for Future Work quantifies the dramatic risks faced by workers whose employers unilaterally terminate enterprise agreements during the course of renegotiations. This aggressive employer strategy, which became common after a precedent-setting 2015 court decision, would be curtailed by new industrial relations legislation proposed by the Commonwealth Government.

A comprehensive review of inflation released today by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work reveals that the inflation targeting in place since the early 1990s is not the neutral policy many assume it is. In that time inflation has missed the target more from below than above, and has coincided with a shift of national income away from workers to profits as wages have stagnated.

Seafarers working on foreign-registered freight ships in Australian waters face regular theft of wages and other entitlements due to legal loopholes and lax enforcement of labour standards, according to a new research report published today by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. The report, titled Robbed At Sea, examines records of wage inspections conducted

As the Fair Work Commission prepares to announce this year’s increase in the national minimum wage, new polling data shows that the vast majority of Australians support lifting wages to keep up with rising inflation. The Australia Institute conducted a special exit poll, surveying a nationally representative sample of 1,424 Australians on the evening of

Nobel Laureate, former World Bank Chief Economist, and best-selling author Professor Joseph E. Stiglitz will visit Australia in July 2022 to discuss the need to expand the role of governments, unions, and civil society. The tour, hosted by the Australia Institute, will see Professor Stiglitz speak at a wide range of events for the general

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 released today by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work. The research confirms the public health dangers of Australia’s patchwork system of sick leave and related

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