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Tag: Carmichael Centre

  • Australian Sovereignty and the Path to Peace – Carmichael Lecture 2025

    This year’s lecture was delivered by the Hon Doug Cameron, former NSW Senator, on September 10 in the Solidarity Hall at the Victorian Trades Hall Council.

    The Laurie Carmichael Lecture is an annual keynote lecture hosted by the Carmichael Centre, an initiative of the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, in partnership with RMIT University’s Business and Human Rights Centre (BHRIGHT). It is supported by the ACTU, the AMWU, the AEU, and The Australia Institute.

    The post Australian Sovereignty and the Path to Peace – 2025 Laurie Carmichael Lecture appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Australian and Global Union Leader Sharan Burrow to Deliver Second Annual Carmichael Lecture

    Former ACTU president Sharan Burrow will deliver the second annual Carmichael Lecture.

  • Carmichael Centre Announces Appointment of Prof. David Peetz as Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow

    The Carmichael Centre at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work is proud to announce the appointment of Prof. David Peetz, one of Australia’s most outstanding labour policy experts, as the new Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow.

    Prof. Emeritus Peetz has recently retired from a long career at Griffith University, where he served as Professor of Employment Relations at the Centre for Work, Organisation and Wellbeing.

    He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and author of several important books on labour policy, including: Unions in a Contrary World (1998), Brave New Workplace (2006), and The Realities and Futures of Work (2019).

    Prof. Peetz has provided expert opinion in numerous labour policy forums at the state and Commonwealth level, including providing research and expert input to the Fair Work Commission, and heading an independent review of the Queensland workers compensation system.

    “David Peetz has been a powerful and influential voice for a more balanced and fair approach to labour policy and employment relations for many years,” said Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work, host of the Carmichael Centre.

    “His appointment as Distinguished Research Fellow will greatly enhance the capacity and influence of the Carmichael Centre, at a pivotal moment in Australia’s economic and political history,” concluded Dr. Jim Stanford.

    Remarks from Professor David Peetz:

    “The choices we make about labour policy now will shape society for decades, maybe permanently. So it’s an outstanding opportunity to be able to contribute to the formation of those choices through the work of the Carmichael Centre,” Professor Peetz concluded.

    Prof. Peetz will serve a three-year term as Distinguished Research Fellow. The Carmichael Centre was established in 2021 to undertake research and education activities related to the legacy of Laurie Carmichael, the long-time Australian union leader who passed away in 2018.

    The post Carmichael Centre Announces Appointment of Prof. David Peetz as Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Job Opening: Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow

    Applications are due at 11:59 pm 21 November 2022. The Melbourne-based position will start in January. Please see job description and application details below. Come and join our team!

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    The Carmichael Centre is a project housed within the Centre for Future Work at the Australia Institute, to acknowledge the legacy of former union leader Laurie Carmichael. Laurie passed away in 2018 after a lifetime of outstanding service and innovative leadership to the trade union and social justice movements in Australia. His legacy touches on numerous themes that remain relevant and pressing today, including:

    • The importance of active industrial policy to develop Australia’s value-added industries.
    • The importance of skills and vocational education to a strong economy and labour market.
    • The importance of strong union education programs to the development of an effective and vibrant cadre of union leaders and activists.
    • The importance of shorter working hours and superannuation to the quality of life of working people.
    • The importance of actively integrating economic, labour market and social policies, in a multi-dimensional plan for achieving full economic and social equality.
    • The importance of peace and resistance to war.

    The Carmichael Centre is established to:

    • Increase public awareness of Laurie Carmichael’s life, achievements, and ideas.
    • Undertake and publish new research into themes relevant to Laurie’s legacy (including trade unionism, vocational education, and labour and social policy).
    • Contribute to modern efforts to educate trade unionists in political-economy and related subjects.
    • Celebrate the achievements of the union movement and inspire emerging leaders.

    To that end, the Carmichael Centre hosts a 3-year research and public education position, the Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow, awarded to a mid-career or senior researcher in labour and industrial relations, political-economy, or a related field.

    The Fellow will undertake and publish new research, and undertake other educational and commentary activities, consistent with the themes and progressive vision expressed by Laurie Carmichael, and the goals of the Centre.

    The Fellow will be employed by the Australia Institute, and would work from our office in Melbourne.

    Compensation for the position will be consistent with experience of the successful candidate (and will include superannuation contributions and related employment expenses).

    Prospective candidates for the Fellow must demonstrate the following attributes:

    • Proven record of high-quality research and publication in fields relevant to the Carmichael Centre’s goals.
    • Demonstrated history of commitment to and engagement in the trade union movement.
    • Capacity and willingness to engage in the range of activities (including research, education, public commentary, and public events) that will be required of the role.

    Applicants are invited for the Carmichael Fellow. Applications must include a cover letter describing the applicant’s interest and experience in trade unionism and the themes relevant to the Carmichael Centre; a full resume (listing relevant experience and publications); and 2 letters of reference.

    Applications should be submitted electronically by 11:59 pm AEDT on Monday 21 November, 2022, to:

    recruitment@australiainstitute.org.au

    Only applicants selected for an interview will be contacted. Online interviews will be held in early December. The successful candidate will commence work in January, 2023.

    Thank you for your interest in the Carmichael Centre!

    The post Job Opening: Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today – a new podcast from the Carmichael Centre

    Laurie Carmichael believed that a worker-centred agenda for technological change was important to achieving better outcomes for society, with workers and their unions playing a pivotal role in shaping technology and skills for social progress.

    The films reviewed in Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today often depict the opposite of a worker-led future of technological change. It’s the aim of the podcast to break down what this looks like, and to suggest what an alternative future – one that benefits workers and humanity – might look like.

    Listeners of YTT can expect podcast episodes to feature accessible political-economic analysis laced with good humour, reflections on accurate (and not-so-accurate) predictions of a future shaped by the neoliberal surveillance state, and a rotating list of special guests, including Dr Jim Stanford, Lily Raynes (Anne Kantor Fellow at the Centre for Future Work), Matt Grudnoff (Senior Economist at The Australia Institute) and more to come.

    Don’t forget to like and subscribe to Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today wherever you get your podcasts and be sure to leave a review – this is what helps other listeners to find and subscribe to YTT, making sure we can keep reaching working people far and wide.

    Listen to the first episode – a review of 1987’s RoboCop – and what it warned us about deindustrialisation, gentrification, privatisation and police militarisation (also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify).

    The post Yesterday’s Tomorrow Today – a new podcast from the Carmichael Centre at the Centre for Future Work appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • Call for Applications: Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Fellow

    We have launched a search for the first Carmichael Fellow. Please see the below call for applications for further information. Applications close at midnight (AEDT) on Monday, 18 January. Thank you for your interest in the Carmichael Centre!

    The post Call for Applications: Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Fellow appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.

  • New Research Centre Established to Honour Union Leader Laurie Carmichael

    The newly formed Carmichael Centre will be established at the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, in the name of legendary manufacturing unionist Laurie Carmichael, who passed away in 2018 at the age of 93.

    Laurie Carmichael played a pivotal role in Australia’s union movement over several decades. He campaigned to protect the right to strike, negotiated shorter working hours, developed innovative workers’ education and training programs, helped to negotiate the Prices and Incomes Accords in the 1980s, served on several federal government boards and commissions under the Hawke and Keating governments, and opposed Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam War. He served in numerous leadership capacities during his career, including with the Amalgamated Engineering Union, the Amalgamated Metal Workers Union, and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.

    The Carmichael Centre is being established with the support of Carmichael’s family, and with funding from two of the organisations which Carmichael led: the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU, formed in 1995 through a merger that included successors to Carmichael’s former unions) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (for which Carmichael served as Assistant Secretary from 1987 through 1993).

    Among other activities, the new Carmichael Centre will:

    • Host a Distinguished Research Fellow position, who will conduct and publish research on themes related to Carmichael’s legacy, including: industrial relations, social policy, manufacturing and industry policy, vocational education, international labour solidarity and peace, and the impact of unions on social well-being.
    • Organise an annual lecture by a prominent labour speaker on Carmichael’s legacy.
    • Develop and publish an annotated on-line bibliography of Carmichael’s writings and other contributions.

    The formation of the Carmichael Centre follows two years of discussions among unions and colleagues to plan an appropriate recognition of Carmichael’s influence and legacy. The Centre for Future Work is launching a public search for the first Distinguished Research Fellow, who will be appointed early in 2021.

    “The Carmichael Centre will carry on Laurie Carmichael’s mission, based on his conviction that strong, innovative unions can help build a better society for all,” said Andrew Dettmer, National President of the AMWU

    “Laurie Carmichael was a principled, innovative, progressive union leader who understood that workers need collective power to make economic, social and democratic progress. We are so glad his ideas will receive the continued attention and study they deserve, through the work of the Carmichael Centre,” said Sally McManus, National Secretary of the ACTU.

    Carmichael is survived by his son, Laurie Carmichael Jr. “The values Dad fought for all his life are more important than ever: fairness, equality, democracy, and peace. I am deeply proud that his legacy lives on, including through the work of the Carmichael Centre,” Carmichael Jr. said.

    “The Distinguished Research Fellow will make a very important contribution to progressive labour research in Australia. We are deeply honoured to host the Carmichael Centre, and to advance Laurie’s vision of a better, fairer world of work,” said Ben Oquist, Executive Director of the Australia Institute.

    The post New Research Centre Established to Honour Union Leader Laurie Carmichael appeared first on The Australia Institute's Centre for Future Work.