News, media releases, opinions and articles from the Centre for Future Work.
Australian and Global Union Leader Sharan Burrow to Deliver Second Annual Carmichael Lecture
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 spe…
Bolstered by a biased tax system, house prices keep rising
As interest rates rise, the gains from negative gearing increase. Despite rising interest rates, the latest figures from the Bureau of Statistics show that Australia’s house prices rebounded in the March quarter of this year. Policy director Greg Jericho writes in his Guardian Australia column that since the beginning of the pandemic property prices around…
The economy is slowing as households get smashed by yet more rate rises
A slowing economy and households closing their wallets is bad news with a Reserve Bank determined to keep raising rates The March quarter saw Australia’s economy grow a rather pathetic 0.2% and fall 0.3% in per capita terms. As policy director Greg Jericho writes in his Guardian Australia column, the economy is slowing at a…
Blame Game on Inflation has Only Just Begun
Every inflationary episode embodies a power struggle within society over who benefits from inflation, who loses out – and who will bear the cost of getting inflation back down. That’s because inflation never affects all prices and incomes evenly. Some prices shoot up, while others grow slowly or decline. Some incomes keep pace with rising…
Fair Work: 5.75% Award Wage Boost will not cause “Wage-Price Spiral”
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…
The level of public housing needs to return to previous levels
Australia needs more housing, and we definitely need more public housing There is rarely a debate in Australia that generates more heat than housing. The causes of housing unaffordability and the solutions to it are varied and often get bogged down in power plays and political scaremongering. But as policy director Greg Jericho notes, building…