Democracy & Accountability – Centre for Future work

Opinions

Want to lift workers’ productivity? Let’s start with their bosses

Originally published in The New Daily on August 18, 2025
Business representatives sit down today with government and others to talk about productivity. Who, according to those business representatives, will need to change the way they do things?
The elephant in the room is that it is business tha…

August 19, 2025

The election campaign needs to tackle climate change

In the week before the election campaign began the IPCC released its latest report that contained warnings that deep, rapid and sustained emissions reductions are needed to prevent temperatures from rising 1.5C or 2C above pre-industrial levels. And yet, as policy director Greg Jericho notes in his column in Guardian Australia, the issue has been virtually…

April 21, 2022

Active Policy Measures Needed to Stop Decline of Journalism

The media and information industries have lost some 60,000 jobs in Australia over the last 15 years. With almost half of those jobs lost during the COVID-19 pandemic, new research shows active policy supports are urgently needed to stabilise and protect the ‘public good’ function of journalism.
K…

November 1, 2021

When the Show Cannot Go On: Rebooting Australia’s Arts & Entertainment Sector After COVID-19

New research from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work reveals the ongoing, devastating impact of COVID-19 on Australia’s arts and entertainment sector and provides a series of recommendations to government that would reboot the creative sector following the crisis.
Key Findings:
More…

July 26, 2021

Yes, lockdowns mean lost jobs. But data shows that not locking down causes much more economic damage

With new stay-at-home orders covering many parts of the province, Ontarians are settling in for a month (at least) of daunting isolation. Restrictions are also being tightened in other provinces to slow the spread of COVID-19, until vaccines can turn the tide of the pandemic. Despite accelerating infection and overflowing hospitals, many oppose the new restrictions on…

January 16, 2021

Are States Filling the Democratic Void?

The recent Victorian election results showed Australian voters want governments to play a pro-active role delivering public services, infrastructure, improved labour standards, and sustainability. They showed that in a time of deep cynicism with federal politics, States (and Territories) can play an important role filling the democratic void left by dysfunction and policy paralysis at…

December 6, 2018

‘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…

November 21, 2018

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…

November 21, 2018