ARTICLE: Indexation and beyond: Australian wage determination 1978-1982

Australia abandoned wage indexation in July 1981. The author examined in an earlier article, the operation of wage indexation from 1975 to June 1978. In this paper he reviews its operation from June 1978 until its abandonment. He discusses Australian wage determination in the period since July 1981 and examines future options

Awards, Certified Agreements and AWAs – Some Reflections

Since the introduction of the Workplace Relations Act (WRA) in 1996, the traditional forms of employment regulation in the federal jurisdiction have been augmented by Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs). Unlike awards and certified agreements, both of which are collective forms of regulation, AWAs may provide for individual forms of regulation, and thus mark a significant change to the federal system of employment relations. The first part of this paper describes the system of awards and collective agreements that operate in the federal industrial relations system. The second part of the paper examines the incidence of AWAs and makes a number of observations based on a previous study (Plowman, Watson and Kelly 2001)2. This second part is more a pointer for further research than an authoritative evaluation of the current experience

A fragment of the Maltese exodus : child migration to Australia 1953-1965

In March 2009, Maltese Prime Minister Gonzi unveiled a memorial to child migration in Grand Harbour. The wording to the monument notes that there were 310 such migrants. It records respect for the achievements of these migrants, joy at their successes and regret at any unintended consequences of child migration. It is evident from letters to the press at the time and from other sources that many in Malta had little knowledge of such migration, and that others did not understand the concept of ‘child migration’. This paper seeks to correct these deficiencies. In doing so it is broken into a number of sections. The next section locates the Maltese experience within the contours of British child migration and to this end provides an historical overview. Section 3 explores the push and pull factors resulting in the commencement of Maltese child migration in 1953. Section 4 provides details of the mechanics of child migration and Section 5 reflects on the child migrant experience. The final section is by way of summary and conclusionpeer-reviewe

Full Circle: Australian Wage Determination 1982-1984

This article, the third by the author for this journal, follows trends in Australia wage fixing from December 1981 to mid-1984. It deals particulary with the effects of the Hawke Labour Government's economic policies as they have affected wage determination and attempts to assess possible future developments

ARTICLE: Indexation and beyond: Australian wage determination 1978-1982

Australia abandoned wage indexation in July 1981. The author examined in an earlier article, the operation of wage indexation from 1975 to June 1978. In this paper he reviews its operation from June 1978 until its abandonment. He discusses Australian wage determination in the period since July 1981 and examines future options

Wage Indexation - The Australian Experience

Wage indexation, a process whereby "wages (or significant elements of them) are regularly adjusted to movements of a prices index" was introduced into Australia as a form of incomes policy. The perceived need for such a policy emanated from economic and political realities. Inflation, running at 2.4% per annum in 1969 gradually increased to 7.1% in 1972, the year in which Labour gained office. Thereafter it rapidly moved into double digit figures and by the end of 1974 was running at nearly 20% Cost push factors were seen by many as the key catalysts in bringing about this economic disequilibrium. This reflected poorly on the government's ability to control such costs, particularly labour costs which increased spectacularly. In the year ending July 1974 male award rates rose by a record 27.3% while female rates, propelled by the phasing in of equal pay, increased by 39.2

Australian wages policy 1983-90

This article reviews Australian wages policy in the period 1983 to 1990. The period can be divided into 3 phases, each characterized by differing environmental and/or political circumstances impinging upon wages policy. The first phase, the period of the wages pause/freeze, ended with the National Wage Case of September 1983 when the Industrial Relations Commission reintroduced wage indexation. Full indexation was the hallmark of the second period, from September 1983 to March 1987. The deteriorating balance of payments situation led to the abandonment of indexation and the search for greater labour flexibility. The period since 1987 has been characterized by a wage regime which has attempted to impose a form of administered flexibility

From people to prototypes and products: ethnographic liquidity and the Intel Global Aging experience study

This article documents how a large-scale, multi-site, ethnographic research project into aging populations, the Global Aging Experience Study, led to the development of concepts, product prototypes, and products for the independent living market. Successfully leveraging the output of ethnographic research within large organizations and product groups is often fraught with challenges. Ethnographic research produced within an industry context can be difficult for an organization to thoroughly capitalize on. However, careful research design and sound knowledge transfer activities can produce highly successful outcomes that can be thoroughly absorbed into an organization, and the data can lend itself to re-analysis. Our research was conducted by the Product Research and Innovation Team in the Intel Digital Health Group, and the work was done in Europe and East Asia, eight countries in all. Using a mixed methodology, our research examined health and healthcare systems in order to chart the macro landscape of care provision and delivery. However, the core of our study was ethnographic research with older people, and their formal (clinical) and informal (family and friends) caregivers in their own homes and communities. Data from this study were organized and analyzed to produce a variety of tools that provide insight into the market for consumption by teams within the Digital Health Group. As the results of the research were driven into the Digital Health Group and other groups within Intel, it became clear that the Global Aging Experience Study possessed what we term ethnographic liquidity, meaning that the data, tools, and insights developed in the study have layers of utility, a long shelf life, and lend themselves to repeated and consistent use within and beyond the Digital Health Group