It is greatly dispiriting that Australia’s Prime Minister- and Minister for Women- thinks that a tiny boost in income for average households resulting from the carbon tax repeal was the highlight of his government’s achievement for women in 2014. In Abbott’s view of the world, women are  essentially the home-makers and secondary earners, if they earn at…

My presentation at the Australian Services Union National Conference 2014 asks how the changing nature of work and employment effects union membership. And moreover, how do unions need to respond. The presentation can be downloaded here: Unions of the Future: Opportunities and Challenges

There is an air of crisis in Australia and the international community about youth unemployment (for 15-24year olds) that has remained persistently high in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. But it is often overlooked that youth unemployment has been very high since the late 1970s, when the levels were not that different from what…

It was a moving experience yesterday to provide a comment for the Conversation on the impact of the Whitlam Government in social policy in the article: Gough Whitlam’s life and legacy: experts respond While my last post lamented how difficult it remains for single parents, my reflections on Whitlam’s legacy in terms of  establishing the single…

New analysis has emerged that women will be worse off as a result of the 2014 Federal Budget and single mothers will be particularly badly affected. This is very troubling given the struggles that single parent families already face. In Australia, one in five families are single parent families and most of these (87%) are headed by…

Guy de Maupassant’s rivetting  Boule de Suif tells the story of a group of people travelling by carriage from Rouen to Le Havre during the Franco-Prussian war of1870-71. The travellers include three  well-to- do ‘respectable’ married couples, two nuns, and a man alone who identifies as a ‘left’- leaning democrat. The company is complete with a buxom,…

On the ABC PM program 29 July, about 11 minutes in, Treasurer Joe Hockey is interviewed about the proposed requirement that people on Newstart unemployment allowance will have to apply for 40 jobs a month – a proposal of concern to business in relation to floods of inappropriate applicants for jobs. Hockey made the interesting observation that…

Earlier in 2014, the Minister for Social Services, Kevin Andrews set up a review of Australia’s social welfare system. The interim report of the review panel was released a few days ago. It is a long and complex report with many layers of ideas for changing the present system to make it more efficient and…

One great thing about the Conversation, where I often write, is that it makes accessible the work of  Australian researchers across a great diversity of fields. These include many in which I have had only a passing interest and very little knowledge. One of these researchers, an evolutionary biologist is Professor Rob Brooks who also writes…

Since the Federal Budget was brought down on 13 May, much commentary and analysis has focussed on its fairness and the impact on social equity. Former liberal party leader, Dr John Hewson, for example, has weighed in on this issue in an article  in the last few days. It is of course quite right that broad community…