Prior to COVID-19, wages growth in Australia was somewhat lower than was expected based on historical determinants. This paper examines concentration in Australian labour markets and its impacts on wages using a large and representative database derived from administrative tax data.

This paper takes stock of existing data and research on the gendered dimension of teleworking, to foster efficient data collection and evidence-based monitoring of the phenomenon in the future.

It is often said that work is not only a source of income, but also of meaning. In this paper, the author explores the theoretical and empirical literature that addresses the relationship between work and meaning. The author explores the challenge that the age of...

The future of work is a context that is rapidly being shaped by powerful forces - the growing adoption of artificial intelligence in the workplace, the increasing casualisation of the workforce, and the decentralised nature of where and how work is being performed. This report...

This report looks specifically at health as a major determinant of the labour market, and one that needs to be better understood – particularly in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

With a novel methodology searching news events from world’s largest news agencies via the online GDELT project, this report documents protest of key workers against their working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 90 countries.

This report report takes a rigorous look at skills shortages and labour market dynamics in the Western Australian labour market and provides a fresh conceptual look at what skills shortages are, new empirical evidence on how they arise, as well as potential responses by government...

This paper reviews the role of specific fiscal spending and transfer programmes in shaping labour market dynamics by disentangling different macroeconomic and microeconomic mechanisms.

The Jobs and Skills Summit will bring together unions, employers, civil society and government, to discuss Australia's shared economic challenges and propose both immediate and long-term solutions. This issues paper outlines Australia's current labour market challenges.

This report explains the complexities and challenges of the career transitions Australians face and makes recommendations to ensure everyone builds a solid foundation in career management skills.

The labour market recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic has been strong among advanced countries, partly reflecting massive and unprecedented policy support to workers and firms. This paper provides evidence and stylised facts about labour market tightening and labour shortages since the onset of the pandemic.

The rise of contractor work, coordinated through digital platforms, has become one of the defining trends in the world of work over the past decade. This report examines some of the potential consequences of these emerging trends in employment arrangements in the disability care labour...

Most of the media and policy attention on gig economy platforms has focused on companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, while those largely represented by women, such as cleaning and caring platforms, get little airtime. Despite the picture that a reference to the gig economy...

This study investigates the impact of COVID-19 (COVID) on the labour market disparities between Pasifika and New Zealand European (NZ European). The researchers sought to understand whether COVID amplified ethnic disparities in job accession and benefit dependence, job and wage mobility and job separation.

This report explores how Australian Service Union members working in clerical and administrative roles in the private sector are faring under these conditions. It provides insight into their wages and their satisfaction with their wages, their perceptions around their financial situation and the cost of...

As policy-makers aim to balance crisis management with longer-term recovery priorities, this paper suggests that three foundational social institutions – education, healthcare and care – may benefit from key investments to re-start the engine of social mobility across national economies.

The rapid expansion of new technologies into every sector has contributed to the proliferation of alternative models of education, learning and skill signalling in global labour markets. This paper provides a high-level map of the landscape of education and labour market innovations in formal and...

Technological and social change alter the required skill composition of the workforce. For many newly emerging jobs, precise skill requirements are evolving and unclear. This paper reports on how data can enable useful foresight about skill requirements and training needs, even when that data has...

This report examines the role of collective bargaining in mitigating the impact of the COVID-19 crisis on employment and earnings, helping to cushion inequality, while reinforcing the resilience of enterprises and labour markets. The report considers the contribution of collective bargaining to a human-centred recovery.

This paper aims to analyse different approaches used to capture the impact of COVID-19 on labour productivity. To this end, it presents a brief framework for understanding the concept of productivity and the measures most commonly used to determine it. Then, it reviews different empirical...

Young people have long suffered from disproportionately high unemployment rates, low pay, high turnover rates, low skills, high incidence of non-standard employment and non-career path positions. This report presents an aggregate view of labour market outcomes for young people before and during the pandemic.

This report reveals that an estimated 4.15 million Australian workers are currently in insecure work – including casual work, labour hire, gig economy workers, and those on rolling fixed-term contracts. The report also argues that despite being presented with reasonable solutions to tackle the proliferation...

A key recommendation in this inquiry report is for the NSW Government to establish a powerful new tribunal to set enforceable, fair standards for all workers in the gig economy, regardless of their employment classification.

Over the last decade, the rise and accelerating growth of 'on-demand' work or the 'gig economy', driven by rapid technological development and other factors, has challenged traditional workforce and economic arrangements, both internationally and in Australia. This first report provides a comprehensive analysis of the...

Drawing on in-depth interviews with participants who are currently or have recently worked as ride-share or food delivery gig workers, this report argues that platformed work - organised and mediated through an online platform or app, is structurally distinct from traditional forms of work.