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Category: Media Releases

  • Centre For Future Work to evolve into standalone entity

    The Centre for Future Work was established by the Australia Institute in 2016 to conduct and publish progressive economic research on work, employment, and labour markets.

    Supported by the Australian Union movement, the centre produced cutting edge research and led the national conversation on economic issues facing working people: including the future of jobs, wages and income distribution, skills and training, sector and industry policies, globalisation, the role of government, public services, and more.

    The Centre will now evolve to a stand-alone centre sitting outside of the Australia Institute.

    “The Australia Institute and the Centre for Future Work have been such an important and powerful partnership in advocating for and winning ideas that make the world of work better. We look forward to what this next chapter can bring,” said Michele O’Neil, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

    “We are thrilled to have been able to seed this important initiative and build it to where it is able to stand alone. The Australia Institute will continue to work with the Centre for Future Work to amplify good policy solutions for workplace issues,” said Leanne Minshull, co-CEO of The Australia Institute.

    The post Centre For Future Work to evolve into standalone entity appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Go Home On Time Day 2025

    The research has been released today to mark Go Home On Time Day 2025, an initiative by the Centre for Future Work, now into its 17th year.

    It is the first full year since Right To Disconnect Laws were introduced in Australia, back in August 2024.

    As full time employees and their bosses come to grips with workers’ right to switch off, the burden is shifting to part time and casual employees.

    Overall, Australians are still doing more than three and a half hours of unpaid overtime each week – the equivalent to four and a half full-time weeks per year.

    The average workers is losing nearly $8000 a year, which is ripping a staggering $95.8 billion a year out of the pockets of Australian workers.

    Key points:

    • Full-time employees average 3.8 hours of unpaid overtime a week. For every ten hours of paid work, they’re working one for nothing.
    • Despite doing significantly fewer hours overall, part-time employees do 3.7 hours of unpaid overtime a week. For every seven hours of paid work, they’re doing nearly an hour for nothing.
    • Younger people (18-24) do the most unpaid overtime at 4.7 hours a week, equivalent to almost one hour of unpaid work for every five paid hours.
    • Unpaid overtime equates to almost 173 hours per year, per worker, more than 4.5 full-time weeks.
    • If that unpaid overtime was valued at median wage rates, the average worker is losing $7,930 a year or $305 a fortnight.
      • Economy-wide, that equates to almost $95.8 billion of lost income a year, which is more than the government spends on the NDIS and Aged Care combined.

    “Australians have been giving their bosses so many free hours for so many years, we were never going to see the level of unpaid overtime suddenly plummet,” said Fiona Macdonald, Director of the Centre for Future Work at The Australia Institute.

    “The situation for full time workers has stabilised. It’s a good first step. I would say, for them, the right to disconnect is working.

    “But this is the first time we have seen rates of unpaid overtime for part time workers almost as high as full time workers.

    “The right to disconnect is less effective for part time workers and casuals because they are simply not given enough paid hours to do their jobs.

    “Young people who are already on the lowest incomes are bearing the brunt of this trend towards squeezing part timers.

    “However you look at it, Australian workers are being ripped off. The cost of living crisis isn’t over. Now, more than ever, workers should be paid for every single hour they work. ”

    The post Go Home On Time Day 2025. As full timers disconnect, part timers are doing more unpaid overtime appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Too much work and too few paid hours — survey results

    Widespread dissatisfaction with paid work hours, and employees working excessive unpaid overtime, are two of the key findings of the 2025 Go Home on Time Day (GHOTD) survey. The annual survey, undertaken by the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute in early September, asked 1,001 Australian workers about their paid working hours and preferences and about any unpaid overtime they worked.

    The findings of the 2025 survey, marking the seventeenth Go Home on Time Day, are not dissimilar to the 2024 survey findings. A large minority of Australian workers would prefer either more or fewer paid work hours. Mostly, workers who are dissatisfied with their hours want more paid work hours (44% of all workers), while a smaller group (14%) want less paid work time. Alongside the desire for more work many employees are working several hours of unpaid overtime each week. This is the case for employees of all ages and for men and women across most industries and occupations. The 2025 GHOTD survey found, on average, employees work unpaid overtime of 3.6 hours a week, equivalent to 173 hours, or over 4.5 weeks, a year. Paid at the median wage rate this amounts to a financial cost to each worker of $7,930 per year; in total a loss of $95.78 billion.

    A positive finding from the 2025 survey is that unpaid overtime among full-time employees appears to be continuing a slow decline, noted in 2024. This suggests the “Right to Disconnect” legislation, introduced for employees in large organisations in August 2024, may be having its intended impact. The legislation was only extended to small businesses in August 2025, so we might expect to see further declines in unpaid overtime in 2026. A less positive finding is that unpaid overtime is high among part-time and casual employees, many of whom are younger workers. The costs of unpaid overtime to these workers are substantial–especially when considered as a proportion of their paid work time, given their shorter paid work hours and often lower pay rates.

    Read the full report

    The post Too much work and too few paid hours? appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Right to Disconnect: early results

    Early evidence on how the Right to Disconnect laws are working in practice.

  • Cost of living crisis hits lowest earners hardest

    Research showing the cost of living crisis disproportionately affects low-income workers.

  • Minimum wage increase won’t cause inflation

    Research showing minimum wage rises do not drive inflation.

  • Increasing minimum wage would not drive inflation up: new report

    The analysis, The Irrelevance of Minimum Wages to Future Inflation, examines the correlation between minimum wage increases and inflation going back to 1997.

    It finds that, contrary to employer concerns, there is no consistent link between minimum wage increases and inflation in the modern Australian context.

    The report finds that a minimum wage rise of between five and 10 per cent in the Fair Work’s Annual Wage Review, due in June, is needed to restore the real buying power of low-paid workers to pre-pandemic trends, but would not significantly affect headline inflation.

    Key points:

    • Last year’s decision, which lifted the minimum wage by 8.65 per cent and other award wages by 5.75 per cent, offset some but not all of the effects of recent inflation on real earnings for low-wage workers.
    • At the same time, inflation fell by 3 full percentage points.
    • There has been no significant correlation between rises in the minimum wage and inflation since 1997.
    • Raising wages by 5 to 10 per cent this year would offset recent inflation and restore the pre-pandemic trend in real wages for award-covered workers.
    • Even if fully passed on by employers, higher award wages would have no significant impact on economy-wide prices.
    • A 10 per cent increase in award wages could be fully offset, with no impact on prices at all, by just a 2 per cent reduction in corporate profits – still leaving profits far above historical levels.

    “Australia’s lowest paid workers have been hardest hit by inflation since Covid. There is a moral imperative to restore quality of life for these Australians and this analysis shows that there is no credible economic reason to deny them,” Australia Institute and Centre for Future Work Chief Economist Greg Jericho said.

    “It’s vital the Fair Work Commission ensure that the minimum wage not only keeps up with inflation, but also grows gradually in real terms – as was the trend before the pandemic.

    “Whenever wages go up, the business lobby cries wolf, claiming it will cost people their jobs, shutter businesses and stifle competition.

    “The business lobby always has some reason that wages should be suppressed. But the historical data prove that concerns about inflation are not a credible excuse to deny low-paid workers a much-needed pay rise.

    “Even if businesses respond to minimum wage rises by charging consumers more, it would have a minuscule effect on inflation because it would be subsumed by much larger factors including chain disruptions, energy shocks, and corporate profits.”

    The post Increasing minimum wage would not drive inflation up: new report appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Aged care wage rise decision crucial for elderly Australians

    The Commission today announced rises between 2 and 13.5 per cent for aged care workers from July 2024.

    “Today’s decision is crucial to supporting safe and quality care for elderly Australians, and the sustainability of the aged care workforce,” said Dr Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work.

    “For too long, aged care work has been undervalued and low paid. The Fair Work Commission’s decision to award additional pay rises, on top of an interim 15 per cent wage rise, is vital to fixing this.

    “The introduction of a new classification structure will also provide the basis for the ongoing recognition and valuation of aged care work.

    “It’s essential the federal government commits to fully funding the additional increases of up to 13.5 per cent from the start of the next financial year.”

    “The exclusion of indirect care workers from today’s decision is a lost opportunity to support the lowest paid workers.”

    The post Aged care wage rise decision crucial for elderly Australians appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Most Coalition voters back right to disconnect

    It comes as the federal opposition pushes amendments to the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2024 – subject to a Senate inquiry due to be handed down today – to scrap the right. The Coalition has vowed to overturn the legislation if it wins government.

    Key findings:

    The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work surveyed 1,017 Australians about the right to disconnect in late January, before the bill passed parliament.

    • Three-quarters (76%) supported the federal government legislating a right to disconnect, while 11% were opposed.
    • Support for legislating a right to disconnect was high across the political spectrum.
    • Greens (90%) and Labor voters (83%) were the most supportive. This was followed by two-thirds of Coalition voters (66%). Just 18% of Coalition voters opposed it.
    • Three in four ‘independent/other’ voters (77%) and 61% of One Nation voters supported legislating a right to disconnect.

    “The opposition appears determined to remain out of touch with its own voters by pledging to roll back the very policies they support,” said Dr Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director, Industrial and Social at the Centre for Future Work.

    “The Coalition joined the business lobby in claiming the right to disconnect would cause the sky to fall in. They were wrong. Instead, this survey finds most Australians across the political spectrum back the legislation to stop work encroaching into their personal and family time.

    “We know that unpaid overtime is endemic. Our research shows employers are stealing more than 280 hours a year from their workers. This average employee loses $11,055 a year to unpaid overtime.

    “The implementation of the right to disconnect is a commonsense step towards rectifying this exploitative imbalance.”

    The Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee is due to report on the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2024 today.

    The post Most Coalition voters back right to disconnect appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Aged care reforms fall short on quality, safety

    The Centre for Future Work warns that reforms due to come into effect from July – including screening requirements to exclude unsuitable workers and a mandatory code of conduct – do not go far enough to ensure the quality and safety or recognise workers’ skills.

    Key findings:

    • The report, Professionalising the Aged Care Workforce, calls for the mandated, sector-wide professional registration and minimum aged care worker qualifications that require all workers to have at least a Certificate III
    • Costs would be minimal because two out of three personal care workers already have a Certificate III or higher qualification
    • Mandating minimum training requirements would lead to higher quality and safer care as well as better career paths for workers to help meet the growing and complex needs of an ageing Australia
    • Two of every three personal care workers already hold a Certificate III or higher qualification
    • Minimum aged care worker qualifications to Certificate III level and access to ongoing professional development were key recommendations of the 2021 Aged Care Royal Commission

    “This is about long-term sustainability for the aged care workforce,” said Dr Fiona Macdonald, Policy Director, The Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute.

    “Setting a minimum education standard for all aged care workers would lead to higher quality care. It would also allow for the recognition of the skills required to care for society’s most vulnerable.

    “Four out of five aged care workers are women and care work has long been undervalued and low paid. Fixing this is vital for people receiving care, workers and our communities.

    “Workers are facing new demands to comply with screening and obligations to meet standards under a new code of conduct. Yet, there is still no formal recognition of workers’ skills or system-wide requirements for accredited training.

    “While the government is moving to screen out unsuitable aged care workers, it is failing to give those working in or considering aged care meaningful professional development or options for career progression.

    “Mandatory and coordinated accreditation would allow workers to have their skills recognised, boost job satisfaction and make the industry more attractive as a long-term career.

    “The Aged Care Royal Commission has been crystal clear about the need for these reforms. It’s beyond time to deliver them.”

    The post Aged care reforms fall short on quality, safety appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.