Prime Minister Tony Abbott confirmed over the weekend that he will use the parliamentary summer break to review his paid parental leave (PPL) scheme, which has so far proven to be a large political liability…
- Research Associate, School of Social Sciences, Monash University
Gough Whitlam, Labor prime minister from 1972 to 1975, has died aged 98. A giant of modern Australian politics, his passing triggered a flood of tributes on Tuesday morning. In a statement, current Labor…
Review The youth unemployment rate increased from 12.8% in August to 13.2% in September seasonally adjusted, in line with the slight overall increase in unemployment. However, the latest figures for 15-24…
It turns out that the policies for under 30s in the federal budget in May were a precursor to a much wider set of changes affecting unemployed people across the board. These are just now coming to light…
The B20 business leaders meeting this week in advance of November’s G20 summit play an important role in advising on what to do about those intractable global issues of economic growth and job creation…
The interim report of the Review of Australia’s Welfare System, led by former Mission Australia CEO Patrick McClure, is a vexed piece of work. Much in it is commendable and even far-sighted, but there…
The 2014-15 federal budget continues the deconstruction of Australia’s post-war welfare state. In fact, the budget takes it a step further, particularly for the young. People under the age of 30 will now…
The Abbott government is hoping an A$11.6 billion infrastructure spending package, combined with a $20 billion medical research fund, will help soften the blow of widespread tightening of health and welfare…
The recommendations in the Commission of Audit’s report, which was released yesterday, would, if implemented, erode the fundamental building blocks of Australia’s social contract. The social contract…
The National Commission of Audit has made 86 recommendations with a focus on the federal government’s 15 biggest and fastest-growing areas of spending. The result is proposals for sweeping spending cuts…
Treasurer Joe Hockey last night stepped up his rhetoric on the the need for heavy government spending cuts, singling out the A$40 billion age pension cost as “much more than we spend on defence, or hospitals…
More than 50,000 young people have been unemployed for more than a year, with the average length of unemployment almost doubling – from 16 to 29 weeks – over the last six years. This means nearly 18% of…
The Conversation is running a series, Class in Australia, to identify, illuminate and debate its many manifestations. Here, Veronica Sheen discusses how insecure jobs can cause women in midlife to tumble…
Some of the newest enterprises online are those which link workers to anyone who wants a job done. They’re not concerned with employment or jobs but with “tasks”. These are small, one-off, discrete portions…
Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s address to the World Economic Forum in January delivered a plain, pragmatic message. The best remedy for the uneven recovery of the world economy, according to Abbott, is a…
Australians are more mobile than workforces in other countries, according to the latest Productivity Commission draft research report on labour mobility. But continued unevenness means acute labour shortages…
Jobs growth is a centrepiece political promise for both political parties but nothing has been said on what type of jobs these will be. At least President Obama told Americans in his 2013 State of the…
This week, our experts examine the two most popular Q&A Twitter requests: can we trust Treasury, and how high is youth unemployment? 1. Peter Shergold: Treasury forecasts are too low in good times…
The ALP’s proposal to send unemployed youth into military-style “boot camps” to qualify for the dole is a superficial solution to a complex social problem. As I’ve argued in a TC article earlier this year…
The recent Four Corners documentary on poverty in the United States is a salutary reminder of why the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) needs to hold the line on minimum wages in relation to average…
A new report from the OECD on Australia’s employment service system has prompted the Federal Government to claim that Australia is a “world leader in employment participation” and that Job Services Australia…
The term “precariat” conveys the idea that the old working class, the proletariat, has transmuted into a new social class where work and life are characterised by precariousness and risk. While the old…
Next week is anti-poverty week. But a new group of Australians have been preparing to be inducted into the halls of poverty. Legislation was finalised to move around 100,000 single parents - mostly women…
Whatever response we might have had to the MLC story – and there have been many – it has been an insight into one of Australia’s “old school tie” networks. The drama around the sacking of the elite Melbourne…
Welcome to Shades of Grey, a series from The Conversation that examines the challenges posed by Australia’s ageing workforce, Today, Monash University’s Veronica Sheen looks at the sustainability of older…
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