Low Paid Work in Australia: Realities and responses

Centre for Public Policy Symposium - in association with the Brotherhood of St Laurence

9:00am, Wednesday 17th October, 2007

The Event

Recent changes in the Australian industrial relations system have served to increase concern about wages and conditions of those at the lower end of the labour market, with some commentators forecasting substantial increases in the number of working poor. However, even prior to these changes, there was evidence that the proportion of Australians that could be classified as working and poor was increasing. A further concern is the possibility that for many of these workers low-paid employment does not act as a stepping stone to better pay and conditions: instead they remain in jobs with little scope for advancement or skill development. Such marginalisation is a significant barrier to developing a competitive knowledge based economy and also imposes substantial costs on governments. The Low Paid Work in Australia symposium will explore the realities of low-paid work in Australian, including the links between low wages, poverty and exclusion and the mobility of low wage workers. It will also canvass policy options to reduce potential negative impacts of low-paid work.

The Speakers

Low Pay and Working Time: the Case of Contract Cleaners (PDF)

Iain Campbell, Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University

Emmanuel Peeters, Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University

WorkChoices and Low Pay (PDF)

Colin Fenwick, Director, Centre for Employment & Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne

Life Long-learning Accounts for the Low Paid

Rod Glover, Director, Policy and Strategy projects, Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet

Labour Law and Low Pay (PDF)

John Howe, Centre for Employment & Labour Relations Law, University of Melbourne

Low paid work, occupational hazards, and health (PDF)

Tony LaMontagne, Principal Research Fellow, McCaughey Centre, VicHealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing

Low Pay in a Prosperous Land (PDF)

Helen Masterman-Smith, Centre for Work and Life University of South Australia

Barbara Pocock, Director, Centre for Work and Life, University of South Australia

Improving Employment Retention and Advancement of Low Paid Workers (PDF)

Daniel Perkins, Research and Policy Project Manager, Research and Policy Centre, Brotherhood of St Laurence

Rosanna Scutella, Ronald Henderson Research Fellow, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research

Labour mobility of low paid workers (PDF)

Ian Watson, Visiting Research Fellow, Macquarie University

Job-Watch report launch ‘WorkChoices: The Victorian Experience’

Zana Bytheway, Executive Director, Job Watch.

Santina Bertone, Work and Economic Policy Research Unit, Victoria University

Shelley Marshall, Research Fellow, Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne

The Venue

This symposium will be held at Graduate House, 220 Leicester Street Carlton. Melway reference 2B D11. For a map, please visit the Graduate House website.

The Program

Click here to download the draft program.

Registration

Registration for this event is $110 (inc GST) which included morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea. Please click here to download a registration form.