Government and business leaders have proposed a range of possible “transition” mechanisms to ease the economic hardship, and defuse political anger, following the Fair Work Commission’s decision to cut penalty rates for work on Sundays and public holidays in the retail and hospitality industries. This briefing note critically reviews several of these proposals.

This paper considers the likely utilisation of paid family and domestic violence leave provisions if they are extended (as has been proposed) to apply to all paid employees in Australia. The paper reviews the actual experience of several Australian employers which have already implemented paid domestic violence leave policies; this review confirms that these provisions...

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.

Remember when Prime Minister Turnbull and Immigration Minister Dutton blamed unionized construction workers for the high cost of housing in Australia? The idea that workers (not property speculators or bankers) are to blame for the property bubble is pretty far-fetched - in fact, it sparked a viral storm on social media, using the #blameunions hashtag...

This briefing paper is an attempt to dig beneath vague claims about economic competence and friendliness to business, and consider more concrete indicators of economic progress.