Reduced Sunday and holiday penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers have failed to ignite the 'boom' in employment, as promised by employer groups who supported the change.

This report critically responds to the call for fiscal austerity and public sector downsizing, being made in response to the emergence of fiscal deficits in Western Australia.

This report examines the ongoing polarisation in Australian employment patterns, between those with full-time, relatively secure jobs, and a growing portion of people working part-time, casual, temporary, or insecure positions.

Short commentary article summarizing findings and policy implications of a research paper on threats to access to, and utilisation of, paid holiday leave in Australian employment. Written by Troy Henderson and Jim Stanford, and published by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute.

Australia has, at various times, been viewed as a “workers’ paradise” and the land of the long-weekend, a place where workers enjoy high wages and people live an easygoing or laid back lifestyle. But the social advances that underpin these stereotypes were the result of a century of concrete political and industrial struggles. The social...