Work Reform and Productivity Unit
Economics & Deregulation / Work Reform and Productivity Unit
The Institute of Public Affairs Work Reform and Productivity Unit examines workplace relations issues. The Unit looks at how laws and social attitudes impact the ability of managers to run businesses and maximise employment opportunities. The Work Reform and Productivity Unit looks at workplace occupational health and safety issues, union activity in industrial sectors, skilled immigration, and the rise of the independent contractor.
Work safety
What are the basic principles of work safety in law and in practice? The Work Reform and Productivity Unit grounds the study of occupational health and safety legal regimes from a position of individual responsiblity and freedom of contract. For an introduction, see Workplace Health and Safety. The seminal IPA report The Politics of a Tragedy: The Gretley Mine Disaster and NSW OHS examines how the Gretley coal mining disaster triggered the introduction of Australia's worst OHS laws in NSW. More Work Safety publications.
The Australian construction sector
The Work Reform and Productivity Unit has a special focus on examining the market-corrupting practices endemic in the construction sector, and looking at the impact of the legal reforms of 2006-07 that focused on cleaning out much of that corruption. See for instance Anatomy of the Screw and Industrial Relations and the Struggle to Build in Victoria.
The Work Reform held a major conference on construction industry reforms in 2007. Papers from the conference are available here.
See also
Capacity to manage index: the Work Reform and Productivity Unit has rated over 250 industrial instruments and their impact on managerial capacity in a wide variety of industries. See Capacity to Manage Reports.
The state of the food manufacturing sector: studies uncovering some key reasons why the Australian food manufacturing sector is underperforming. See Food Manufacturing Facing the Wall and Take Away Take Away.
Outworking: the unusually high industrial relations regulation of the clothing manufacturing sector, allegedly introduced to protect outworkers, has in fact damaged some of the most vulnerable workers in Australia. See Why Has the Arse Fallen Out of the Clothing Manufacturing Industry? and Outworkers Speak Out.
Casual Employment: the Work Reform held a conference on casual employment in 2004. Discussion papers from the conference are available here.
Industrial Relations and Trade Practices Law: The Work Reform and Productivity Unit held two conferences in 2003 and 2004 on how trade practices legislation could and should impact industrial relations. Papers from the conferences are avialable here: Trade Practices vs Industrial Relations: Balancing the Acts (2004) and The Last Frontier: Making Industrial Relations Subject to the TPA (2003).
Sub-topics of Work Reform and Productivity Unit
Publications
A Casual Discussion: The need to redefine casual employment
In the brave new world of work in Australia, the biggest concern for working people is security or more accurately the lack of it. Gone are the days of a job for life in one company. People are working for shorter periods with more employers....
A Casual Discussion: Decasualisation for long-term casuals
There has been a growing concern at the number of casual employees in Australia. According to ABS figures about 27 per cent of workers are now employed as casuals. Explanations for the growth in casual employment are relatively easy to find....
A Casual Discussion: High casual rate stifles productivity
Around the world it is understood that the modern sources of productivity growth are skills and new ideas. The Productivity Commission has concluded there was no discernible acceleration in Australian workforce skills during the 1990s, with skills...
A Casual Discussion: Casual Employment in 2004
The world of work has changed significantly over the past generation. Employment regulation needs to be flexible to allow businesses to respond to clients, consumers and competitors. Employees are more skilled, more mobile, and one size does not...
Report 1 & 2. Food and Construction Industries
Overall Ratings, Construction Companies Overall Ratings, Food Manufacturing Industry
Report 3. Automotive Industry
Capacity to Manage Index Overall Ratings, Automobile Industry
Report 4. Transport Industry
Capacity to Manage Index Overall Ratings, Transport Industry
Report 5. Petrochemical Industry
Capacity to Manage Index Overall Ratings, Petrochemical Industry
The Last Frontier: Workplace relations and the Trade Practices Act
I thank the Institute for Pubic Affairs for the opportunity to speak at today's seminar. It is not like Ken Phillips to come up with a provocative and challenging topic! "The Last Frontier---Making Industrial Relations Subject to the Trade...
