The job network and underemployment

The paper notes how long-term unemployment has been replaced with long-term underemployment and examines the role of the Job Network in this new environment. The paper discusses how the structure of unemployment has changed, how the Job Network has evolved and comments on its performance. It is noted that the Job Network has become more and more driven by tightly specified processes and services supported by an ever tighter compliance regime. This business model has much in common with franchising and this analogy is used to interpret the observed outcomes and the concerns expressed by providers and other interested parties. The paper concludes that there are some inherent problems with the franchising model and suggests that less prescriptive arrangements may be preferable

Labour markets and wages in Australia: 2008

The Australian economy in 2008 was one of contrasts: the resource based states continued to grow at relatively higher rates than the remainder; wage and employment outcomes varied widely for different groups in the labour force; and domestic climate change policies achieved prominence just as a global economic downturn lead to rapidly changing macroeconomic conditions. Within this rapidly changing context, ongoing concerns with labour utilization, wage equity and issues of compliance appear likely to grow in significance

WorkChoices and family-friendly working hours: An assessment of data sources

When the Australian Federal Government introduced the WorkChoices legislation in 2006, one of its stated aims was to facilitate the negotiation of 'family-friendly' employment arrangements. This article assesses our capacity to achieve an accurate picture of 'family-friendly' arrangements in the new regulatory regime and examines the adequacy of publicly available indicators of women's employment status. We focus specifically on the capacity of current data to monitor 'family-friendly' employment arrangements in the form of flexible working hours and find that while there are a range of potential indicators, few will give a complete assessment of how women are faring. We conclude that there is ample capacity to reduce the fragmentation of currently available information and to increase the regularity with which it is collected. There is also a need for additional research to determine the indicators that might be most relevant to women in vulnerable positions in the workforce

Wages and wage determination in 2004

In 2004 money wages continued to grow at a moderate rate within Reserve Bank limits. In May, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission raised the federal minimum wage by $19 as part of the safety net adjustment. The workplace reform agenda of the federal government continued to be largely frustrated by the Senate, but the Coalition victory in October and its Senate majority in mid-2005 led the pundits to predict more energetic workplace reform in the coming months. The Australian Council of Trade Unions pursued a number of test cases before the Commission, which challenged the desire of employers and the federal government for a flexible award system, rather than one constrained by externally imposed entitlements

Wages and wage determination in 2007

In 2007 money wages rose marginally faster than in 2006 but there was no evidence of generalized wage pressures arising from skill shortages. The Reserve Bank raised interest rates twice during the year, further reducing housing affordability. The Fair Pay Commission decision in July temporarily restored the real wages of the lowest paid, but there was further compression of the lower deciles of the wage distribution. With petrol prices continuing to rise, household living standards are under threat, particularly those of workers reliant on the wage adjustment through the Commission whose next decision will not be operational until October 2008. The election of the Labor Government in November led to speculation as to extent to which the Work Choices legislation would be amended