Despite the prominence of migrant worker exploitation in the media, there has been limited empirical data on the overall nature and extent of wage theft among international students and backpackers in Australia. This study begins to fill these gaps.

There needs to be more of a focus on the adverse effects of lower wages for the economy as a whole, argues John Quiggin.

Penalty rates are a long-standing and important part of Australia's workplace relations framework. They are rightly seen as an important mechanism to ensure that people are adequately compensated for missing out on family activities, on social and family gatherings, and participating in community events.

This report presents a short summary of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Global Dialogue on “The Future of Work We Want”, which brought together leading economists, academics and representatives from governments and social partners (employers’ and workers’ organizations) to discuss the profound changes sweeping through the world of work.

This report argues that reform is required to allow for greater flexibility over penalty rates in what is currently a highly centralised system.