Edited by the Institute for Social Research, Swinburne University of Technology

New Research

The added worker effect and the discouraged worker effect for married women in Australia

17 March 2010This paper investigates both the added worker effect (the labour supply responses of women to their partners’ job losses) and the discouraged worker effect (workers withdrawing from the labour market because of failed searches) for married women in Australia, with the emphasis on the former.

The economic vitality report: the impact of the GFC on Australians

15 March 2010Althrough the global financial crisis proved to be more of a slowdown than a recession in Australia and that the economy improved throughout 2009, this report finds that more people felt their personal circumstances had declined.

The effectiveness of the traineeship model

12 March 2010The traineeship model is currently targeted at a broader group of people compared with the original target group of young unemployed persons as envisaged by the Kirby Enquiry.

From the margins to the mainstream: the challenges for microfinance in Australia

09 March 2010This report on research undertaken by the Brotherhood and Community Foresters Finance draws on the literature and stakeholder consultation to explore microfinance in Australia, highlighting the need to achieve sustainability, scale up successful pilot programs and measure impact on financial exclusion.

Australian workforce futures: a national workforce development strategy

08 March 2010This report recommends a fundamental overhaul in the way the nation approaches and supports workforce development at a national, industry and enterprise level.
Demography as destiny: Schooling, work and Aboriginal population change at Wadeye

Demography as destiny: Schooling, work and Aboriginal population change at Wadeye

05 March 2010Recent Commonwealth Treasury intergenerational reports have failed to consider the very different challenges that arise for the Indigenous population as a consequence of demographic ageing.

Business & finance

Low Carbon Growth Plan for Australia

16 March 2010This report provides an economy-wide blueprint for how Australia can achieve an ambitious reduction in greenhouse gas emissions while building a growing low-carbon economy.

Evidence and perceptions of inequality in Australia

15 March 2010This paper considers the ways in which globalising economic forces have affected the level of income and wealth inequality within Australian society.

Income & wealth

The political economy of intergenerational income mobility

17 March 2010International comparisons of intergenerational mobility must take into account differences in politico-economic institutions, according to this study.

The impact of a sustained gender wage gap on the Australian economy

16 March 2010Pay inequity costs the Australian economy $93 billion per year, or 8.5% of GDP, according to this report.

Commentary

The Howard impact

11 December 2009Viewed comparatively, the achievements and failings of the Howard government look a little different, write Rodney Tiffen and Ross Gittins in Inside Story

Efficiency and equity

09 November 2009Is Australia the new economic and social model for the world, asks Peter Auer in the Australian Review of Public Affairs

Families, social welfare services and the global financial crisis

11 September 2009Elly Robinson summarises the main points raised in a 2008 paper, The Impact of the Global Financial Crisis on Social Services in Australia

Audio

New approaches to structuring government to close the implementation gap

Listen to audio
19 February 2010This lecture argues that without reform of the structures of government, finance, policy and administration, remote Australia will remain a place of recurring crises.

The great crash of 2008

Listen to audio
19 October 2009This public forum discusses the book The Great Crash of 2008 by Ross Garnaut, with David Llewellyn-Smith and the events that impacted on financial market regulation, security and the Asia-Pacific region.

Employment

Comparison of workers' compensation arrangements in Australia and New Zealand

19 March 2010This comparison provides background to the evolution of workers' compensation arrangements in two jurisdictions and discusses the way that each scheme deals with coverage, benefits, return to work provisions, self-insurance, common law, dispute resolution and cross-border arrangements.

Compendium of workers' compensation statistics Australia 2007-08

19 March 2010The compendium provides a good indicator of Australia’s Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) performance in 2007–08 and allows trends in OHS performance over time to be analysed.

Video

'From little things, big things grow'

Listen to audio
11 August 2009Interview with Dick Estens, Chairman of the Aboriginal Employment Strategy.

Peter Singer on poverty

Listen to audio
27 April 2009Do we as relatively affluent human beings have a moral duty to give to those who have less than us ? A completely staggering 1.4 billion people around the world live in what's described as "extreme poverty", or with an income of less than US$1.25 a day.

Websites

Community Indicators Victoria

29 October 2009This site uses local community wellbeing indicators to improve citizen engagement, community planning and policy making.

EthicalJobs.com.au

08 July 2009EthicalJobs.com.au is a new jobs website which promotes "work for a better world" – it connects people looking for an ethical job or career with employers from the not-for-profit, business & government sectors who see their organisations as contributing to a more equitable, more just or more sustainable world.

Events

Conference
24 Mar 2010 - 9:00am - 25 Mar 2010 - 5:30am
Darwin
Conference
25 Mar 2010 - 9:00am - 26 Mar 2010 - 5:00pm
Canberra
Conference
31 Mar 2010
Sydney

Books

Introducing China: the world's oldest great power charts its next comeback

Introducing China: the world's oldest great power charts its next comeback

  • Ron Huisken
  • ANU E Press
China's transformation has been patiently, methodically and very deliberately constructed by a leadership group that has equally carefully protected its monopoly on power.
Best Australian political cartoons 2009

Best Australian political cartoons 2009

  • Edited by Russ Radcliffe
  • Scribe Publications
The year in politics as seen by Australia’s funniest and most perceptive political cartoonists.