My Blog

Category: Research Reports

  • Climate crisis escalates cost-of-living pressures

    The report identifies three key areas where the climate crisis is directly driving up costs for Australians: insurance, food, and energy.

    These sectors combined have accounted for over a fifth of the consumer price inflation experienced in Australia since 2022.

    Key findings:

    • Insurance premiums have soared due to an increase in natural disasters, with some households now spending over seven weeks of gross income just to cover home insurance
    • Food prices have risen by 20% since 2020, with climate-related disruptions wiping out harvests and making it harder for some regions to grow food
    • Energy costs remain high due to a reliance on fossil fuels, underinvestment in renewables, and fossil fuel exports forcing Australians to compete with the global market for Australia’s resources
    • The impacts of the climate crisis are disproportionately affecting lower-income and regional households, who are already feeling the financial strain more severely

    The report underscores the need for urgent climate action to protect Australian households from these escalating costs. Addressing the root causes of climate change is essential to lowering future risks and alleviating the economic strain that millions of Australians are facing.

    “Insurance costs keep on rising and, while competition across big business sectors is needed, the thing that is driving insurance costs is climate change,” said Richard Dennis, Executive Director at The Australia Institute.

    “The only way to keep insurance costs down is to keep fossil fuel emissions down. The more we heat the climate, the more expensive storms, floods and fires will be and, in turn, the more insurance will cost. It’s time we started to tax the fossil fuel companies to fund the damage that their previous emissions are already causing.”

    As the world’s second-largest fossil fuel exporter and fifth largest producer, Australia’s actions are making a significant contribution to the problem.

    “The increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters driven by climate change have resulted in higher payouts for insurance companies and rising premiums for homeowners,” said Mark Ogge, Principal Advisor at The Australia Institute.

    “One in 20 Australian households now spend more than seven weeks’ worth of gross income just to pay for home insurance and in many regional areas, where household incomes are lower, the burden is even heavier.

    “As climate change continues to fuel more frequent disasters, entire suburbs or towns could become uninsurable.

    “Food prices have also surged and in some regions growing certain crops is becoming harder and harder, making food insecurity worse, and even without price-gouging by retailers like Coles and Woolworths, prices are expected to keep rising due to the ongoing climate crisis.”

    “Meanwhile, Australia’s energy sector keeps using expensive fossil fuels and there is serious underinvestment in renewable energy solutions which provide far cheaper electricity

    “Exposure to global prices for fossil fuels due to coal and gas exports has driven up local electricity costs and even if Australia moves away from international pricing, the continued risk of climate disasters damaging critical infrastructure will ensure that energy prices remain high for the foreseeable future.”

    The post Climate crisis escalates cost-of-living pressures appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • The Limits of CGE Modelling

    Economic modelling is a central element of economic and policy debate in Australia. Yet the assumptions that underpin the most commonly used macroeconomic models are rarely discussed even though they fundamentally influence model results. Too often, models are used as a tool of persuasion rather than providing objective policy advice.

    The post The Limits of CGE Modelling appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Life Savers Without Life Savings (firefighters & paramedics)

    Firefighters and paramedics save lives, protect us from the ravages of fire, and ensure the sick and injured receive the medical treatment they need. However, after a working life protecting others, these emergency workers face substantial risk of having inadequate retirement incomes.

    Firefighters and paramedics are regularly compelled to retire early due to particular barriers to working beyond the age of 60. Workers in these intense and challenging roles should have access to early retirement options. However, early retirement means fewer years for superannuation to grow and more years in retirement drawing on superannuation.

    The possibility of superannuation running out is significant even under relatively optimistic assumptions.

    This paper provides simulations of retirement income trajectories for firefighters and paramedics under a range of assumptions. For firefighters, these show, under relatively optimistic assumptions, an early-retiring single firefighter can expect their superannuation to run out six years before male life expectancy, nine years before female life expectancy, and 15 years earlier than for a regular retiree (retiring at 67). Under alternative scenarios, incorporating plausible risks, an early-retiring firefighter can expect their superannuation to run out 15 or more years before life expectancy.

    For paramedics, the challenges are similar and severe. Our simulations indicate that, even under optimistic assumptions, an early-retiring single paramedic can expect their superannuation to run out seven years before male life expectancy, ten years before female life expectancy, and 14 years earlier than for a regular retiree. Considering plausible risks, an early-retiring paramedic’s superannuation could run out 15 or more years before life expectancy.

    To extend superannuation longevity through to the age of their expected lifespan an early-retiring firefighter or paramedic would need to reduce their annual living expenses by 18.5%.

    Given the challenges of continuing their work in these intense roles past age 60, it is unacceptable that retired firefighters and paramedics should have either significantly reduced living standards or risk running out of superannuation in retirement.

    Among the range of potential policy responses considered in this paper, one response with promise is to increase employer superannuation contributions for emergency responders and supplement this with a one-time special superannuation contribution for workers already approaching retirement.

    The post Life Savers Without Life Savings appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Submission on Restricting NDAs in Workplace Sexual Harassment

    Submission calling for restrictions on non-disclosure agreements in harassment cases.

    Authors: Heap, Peetz

    Download the full report.

  • Economic Prosperity, Public Sector Restraint (SA)

    New report contrasts South Australia’s economic progress with continued public sector wage restraint

    By many measures, South Australia has enjoyed the strongest economy of any state in Australia. Its economic growth has been faster in recent years than any state – and in per capita terms, its prosperity has improved twice as fast as the national average. It enjoys a stable, diversified economic base: reflecting a virtuous combination of strong business investment, exports, household consumption, and government spending (both on current services and on capital investment). The state’s labour market has been operating at or near record-low levels of unemployment and underutilization.

    Unfortunately, this economic progress has not been reflected in improvements in state-funded public services in South Australia. The proportionate share of the economy contributed by state-funded services and infrastructure investments has been declining since before the pandemic (and is now lower as a share of the state’s economy than any other state). State public sector workers have borne the burnt of this restraint: their wages have lagged far behind inflation, resulting in a painful real wage cut for state employees.

    In a new research report, Economist Jack Thrower shows that real wages for state public servants in South Australia have declined by as much as 10% since 2019. This represents a one-tenth reduction in the real purchasing power of their salaries, imposing severe financial stress on tens of thousands of households – and undermining consumer spending and economic growth.

    The report also confirms that South Australia possesses abundant fiscal capacity to repair this damage to real compensation for public sector workers. The state government’s core revenues are growing much faster than core expenses, and the budget is projected to return to surplus this year – faster than any other state other than Western Australia. Rebuilding public servant wages to catch up to past inflation should be a vital priority for the state government.

    Please read the full report, Economic Prosperity, Public Sector Restraint: Unpacking South Australia’s Economic and Fiscal Advantages in the Shadow of Public Sector Pay Erosion, by Jack Thrower.

    The post Economic Prosperity, Public Sector Restraint appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Taking up the Right to Disconnect? (GHOTD 2024)

    This year marks the sixteenth annual Go Home on Time Day (GHOTD), an initiative of the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, that shines a spotlight on the maldistribution of working hours and the scale of unpaid overtime worked by Australians.

    The Australian labour market has remained relatively strong over 2024 although interest rate rises have pushed unemployment to over four per cent. Recent growth in wages has not been enough to take pressure off household budgets, or to offset the major reductions in real wages that occurred following the COVID pandemic. Across the economy, large numbers of workers want more paid work hours. However, the underemployment problem co-exists with overwork and with unpaid overtime that contributes to the loss of substantial amounts of income for working households.

    During the past two years there has been a great deal of public attention and debate about a right to disconnect from work outside work hours. New “Right to Disconnect” laws came into effect in August 2024. While it is early days, these laws could already be having a positive impact including through raised awareness that workers should be free to enjoy their personal time without work demands. Our research indicates that unpaid overtime hours were fewer in 2024 than in previous years, both pre- and post-COVID pandemic years.

    Unpaid overtime
    On average, employees reported they performed 3.6 hours of unpaid work in the week of the survey, equivalent to 10.9% of total working hours. This unpaid overtime equates to 188 hours per year per worker, or almost five standard 38-hour work weeks.

    • If unpaid overtime were valued at median wage rates, this means the average worker is losing $7,713 per year or $297 a fortnight.
    • At the economy-wide level, this equates to more than $91 billion of lost income per year.

    The personal and social costs of unpaid overtime, through working outside of normal hours, include negative consequences for health and wellbeing and relationships:

    • Four in ten workers report physical tiredness (42%) and feeling mentally drained (40%)A third of workers experience stress or anxiety (32%), and one in four experienced interference with personal life/relationships (29%).One in five workers experience disrupted sleep (22%).
      • One in three workers (36%) indicate that unpaid overtime is either expected or encouraged in their workplace.
    • The most common reason for working outside scheduled work hours is too much work (41%), with the second most common reason being staff shortages when other staff are absent or on leave (31%).

    Dissatisfaction with working hours
    Across the whole labour market, almost half of all employed workers (45%) are unsatisfied with their working hours – wanting either more or fewer hours.
    o One in three workers (32%) reported that they wanted more paid hours. This desire was especially strong among workers in casual jobs (51%). Over four in ten workers (43%) aged 18 to 30 years of age wanted more paid hours.
    o Just over half of workers (55%) indicated their hours were about right.

    To calculate how much pay you are losing through unpaid overtime go to our unpaid overtime calculator at gohomeontimeday.org.au

    The post Taking up the Right to Disconnect? Unsatisfactory Working Hours and Unpaid Overtime appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Doing it Tough: Cost of Living Crisis

    The current cost of living crisis in Australia has two components – the incomes that people receive, and the prices they pay for goods and services. This is what Alan Fels has recently referred to as the “two faces” of the crisis . Action to protect the living standards of Australians must address both faces of the crisis.

    As part of a broader research initiative investigating the human costs of the crisis and the impact of austerity on Australian workers, the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1014 adults living in Australia about their household income and the costs of living. The results show that:

    • Almost three-quarters (72%) of respondents felt their wages had grown slower than prices over the previous year.
    • Over half of respondents (53%) said their household’s financial situation was worse that it was two years ago.
    • The cost of living crisis has had differential impacts. Because it has affected lower-income Australians most severely, the cost of living crisis has exacerbated inequality.
    • Respondents identified higher grocery prices as the most visible source of the increased cost of living. Six out of 10 (60%) of respondents identified groceries as the purchase where they have most noticed higher prices followed by utilities (21%) and transport (7%).
    • There was strong support for measures across a broad range of policy areas to address the costs of living. 64% of respondents said it was very important to lower utility costs to reduce cost of living pressures. 64% said it was very important to increase supermarket competition, 60% to lower medical costs, and 58% to increase the pace of wages growth.

    The respondents to this survey supported a suite of policy initiatives designed to both reduce the cost of living, and to increase wages and income supports. In their view, addressing the cost of living crisis requires a multi-dimensional approach, rather than a singular reliance on high interest rates to slow inflation.

    The report is published by the Centre for Future Work in conjunction with a one-day symposium it is hosting in Melbourne on 17 October on the crisis in living standards in Australia, and how to address it through greater investments in wages, public services, and affordable housing and energy.

    The post Doing it Tough appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Industrial Strategy for Domestic Wind Energy Tower Manufacturing

    Policy framework for building Australian wind tower manufacturing capacity.

    Authors: Phillip Toner

    Download the full report.

  • Leaving Money on the Table: SRS Underfunding

    Analysis of Schooling Resource Standard underfunding.

    Authors: Jim Stanford

    Download the full report.

  • No Blood – No Job: Privacy laws and workers rights

    Organisations in Australia are using blood analysis as a means of screening future employees for ‘health risks’ that they allege may impact on their performance of work.

    Collecting sensitive information from blood analysis is restricted under Australia’s privacy laws. This is because the mishandling of this information can have a substantial detrimental impact on those who have provided the information. Requiring workers to submit to blood analysis is just one example of how organisations are now routinely collecting sensitive information from workers, sometimes without adhering to the requirements of privacy laws. Other examples include using fingerprint and facial recognition software and sensors that collect physiological and psychological data about workers.

    The protection from arbitrary interference with a person’s privacy is a fundamental human right. Interfering with this right, by collecting sensitive personal information, should occur in limited circumstances and only where necessary. However, this report shows that some organisations in Australia, are not treating the collection of sensitive information from workers as an exception. They are collecting sensitive information as a routine step in their employment processes.

    The findings of this report raise concerns about power, privacy, fairness, and the potential for discrimination in the practices being adopted by some organisations. These findings also show that Australia’s current privacy and workplace relations laws do not adequately address these concerns. Amendments to Australian privacy laws are currently being considered by the Australian Government with reforms likely to be put before the Australian Parliament before the end of 2024.

    This report examines the need for new provisions within either or both privacy or workplace relations laws that set out the rights of workers to protect their sensitive information. It argues that regulation should be geared towards, not only protecting workers’ rights to privacy, but to providing a disincentive to organisations hoarding and misuse of the personal and sensitive information of workers.

    The worker-centric approach called for in this report includes:

    • the development of one system of regulation to protect the privacy concerns of all workers regardless of employment status or work context
    • defining the collection of workers’ personal and sensitive information as high risk requiring both specific and detailed justification for the collection of this information and the genuine informed and affirmative consent of workers
    • the establishment of a tripartite mechanism to assist the regulator to develop and manage processes for dealing with the privacy and related human rights concerns of workers
    • the use of codes and frameworks, developed via a tripartite mechanism, to set out when and how workers’ information can be collected and used
    • the development of an easy to access, and timely, worker centered mechanism to address concerns about the collection and use of workers’ information.

    The post No Blood – No Job appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.