Everyone has the right to work in a secure job with decent pay. While Australia has emerged from lockdowns in better shape than many countries, our wages, stagnant for nearly a decade, are not keeping up with the sky rocketing cost of living, and insecure work is rife. Other major challenges are also impacting upon the world of work, from the climate emergency to strains in the care economy and the changing nature of work.

The Jobs and Skills Summit in early September is the chance to chart a course towards full and secure employment for all. The Jobs Summit Series – a series of papers from the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) in the lead up to the summit – aims to provoke debate and build common ground on what that course could be.

This paper, the first in the series, discusses the policies needed to achieve a macroeconomy that works for all.