News, media releases, opinions and articles from the Centre for Future Work.
New Book: The Wages Crisis in Australia
Australian wage growth has decelerated in recent years to the slowest sustained pace since the 1930s. Nominal wages have grown very slowly since 2012; average real wages (after adjusting for inflation) have not grown at all. The resulting slowdown in personal incomes has contributed to weak consumer spending, more precarious household finances, and even larger…
Go Home on Time Day 2018
Wednesday 21 November is Australia’s official “Go Home On Time Day,” sponsored by the Centre for Future Work and the Australia Institute. This represents the 10th year of our initiative, to provide light-hearted encouragement to Australian workers to actually leave their jobs when they are suppos…
‘Go Home On Time Day’ 2018: Australians Owed $106 Billion in Unpaid Overtime, Report Reveals
The 10th annual ‘Go Home On Time Day’ report by The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work estimates that Australian employees will work 3.2 billion hours of unpaid overtime for their employers this year, worth an estimated $106 billion in foregone wages.
A national survey shows the average…
Secret Weapon Overlooked in Fight Against Financial Misconduct
A potent tool for cleaning up misconduct in the financial services industry is being overlooked by the Royal Commission. The Centre for Future Work proposes that a system of sector-wide collective bargaining could establish clear and ethical benchmarks for compensation, avoiding the problem of ‘c…
“Permanent Casuals,” and Other Oxymorons
Recent legal decisions are starting to challenge the right of employers to deploy workers in “casual” positions on an essentially permanent basis. The Federal Court recently ruled that a labour-hire mine driver who worked regular shifts for years was still entitled to annual leave, even though he…
Infographic: The Shrinking Labour Share of GDP and Average Wages
This infographic summarises the bottom-line impact on average wage incomes for Australian workers. In the March quarter of 2018, labour income (in wages, salaries, and superannuation contributions) accounted for 47.1% of total GDP. That is down over 11 percentage points from the peak labour share (over 58%) recorded in the same quarter of 1975. The…