Working futures: the changing nature of work and employment relations in Australia

Over the past few decades, both the nature of work and employment relations have undergone significant change in Australia. Employees are expected to work harder and for longer hours, employment is less secure for many workers, and part-time and casual work have increased significantly. In addition, the ways in which wages and working conditions are determined have also changed. Industrial relations have become decentralised and union coverage of the workforce has declined. Collective approaches to employment relations have increasingly been replaced with more individualised arrangements. This collection of writings is based on a workshop sponsored by the Australian Academy of Social Sciences at the end of the year 2000 and involving participants from academic fields along with practitioners and policy makers. The collection attempts to examine the likely future directions for both work and employment relations in Australia as the new millennium begins. The chapters are: Introduction to working futures / Ron Callus and Russell D. Lansbury; Work in an ungolden age / Keith Hancock; Changes in the nature of work and employment relations: an historical perspective / Greg Patmore (with commentaries by Melanie Oppenheimer and Raelene Francis); The changing labour market and its impact on work and employment relations / Mark Wooden (with commentaries by John Burgess and Joe Isaac); Legal aspects of the changing social contract at work / Ron McCallum (with commentaries by F. L. Wright and Suzanne Jamieson); Down with the dictator: the role of trade unions in the future / Michael Crosby (with commentaries by Rae Cooper and Stephen Long); Employment time and family time: the intersection of labour market transformation and family responsibilities in Australia / Bettina Cass (with commentaries by Ed Davis and Alison Morehead); The disadvantaged in the new economy / Gianni Zappala, Vanessa Green and Ben Parker (with commentaries by Gillian Considine and Caroline Alcorso); Changing forms of organisation and management / Dexter Dunphy and Doug Stace (with commentaries by Beryl Hesketh and David Grant); Working futures: Australia in a global context / Ron Callus and Russell D. Lansbury. The editors conclude that the traditional employer-employee model is increasingly irrelevant in the current context and that more inclusive economic and social policies are needed to ensure quality of jobs and employment relations in the future. Two issues require particular attention: the portability of entitlements between employers and the sharing of risks associated with less secure forms of employment. Show less