The discussion here is intended to serve as an introduction to the issues and policy options surrounding the patchwork economy, and the need for a new social contract. Much work remains on each of these questions, but the choices we make over the next few years may shape the terms of work and family life...

The Fourth Industrial Revolution is interacting with other socio-economic and demographic factors to create a perfect storm of business model change in all industries, resulting in major disruptions to labour markets. New categories of jobs will emerge, partly or wholly displacing others.

Technology has made work ever-present. Cell-phones tether salaried workers to endless 24/7 workweeks, caffeinated by Starbucks baristas who are among the millions of workers scrambling for hours with head-spinning erratic schedules. The nature of work has changed for all of us. And for the majority of American workers, work has become a transaction paid by...

The potential of artificial intelligence and advanced robotics to perform tasks once reserved for humans is no longer reserved for spectacular demonstrations by the likes of IBM’s Watson, Rethink Robotics’ Baxter, DeepMind, or Google’s driverless car. Just head to an airport: automated check-in kiosks now dominate many airlines’ ticketing areas. Pilots actively steer aircraft for...

The casualisation of the Australian workforce proceeded at a more or less steady pace from 1992 to 2004. Introduction There is no formal definition of casual employment in the sense that it has a meaning set down in law or specified in awards and agreements. Instead, casual employment has generally been regarded as employment in...