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Category: Gender at Work

  • Working from Home, Not a Problem

    Gender at Work, Industry & Sector Policies, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights, Public Sector, Procurement & Privatisation

    Working from Home, Not a Problem

    by Fiona Macdonald

    Author

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    More than one in three workers in Australia usually work from home at least some of the week. Working from home has become an established working arrangement for many employees in jobs where it is possible to work remotely. Yet, there is strong opposition from some employers to working from home and regular reports of pressure from organisations to wind back this work arrangement.

    During the lead up to the 2025 federal election we have heard a lot about working from home arrangements as the Coalition adopted a policy for all Commonwealth public servants to work from the office five days a week. The policy has been abandoned but it is not clear that the Coalition have changed their views on this flexible work option, having said it created inefficiencies, has harmed productivity and is much more common in the public than in the private sector. But is there any evidence supporting these views?

    In this briefing paper we review the evidence on working from home, addressing the questions: Who works from home and why? Who benefits from working from home arrangements? Why do some employers (and politicians) want workers back in the office? What is the future for work from home arrangements?

    We find working from home is a flexible work option that has benefits for workers and for organisations, and it contributes to more inclusive and gender-equal workforce participation and a more productive economy. Working from home arrangements may require some workplace adaptation including requiring managers to work differently. However these challenges should not get in the way of the many benefits that working from home and other flexible work arrangements offer.



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  • Budget briefing paper 2025-2026

    Education & Training, Gender at Work, Industry & Sector Policies, Macroeconomics, Social Security & Welfare, Tax, Spending & the Budget, Wages & Entitlements

    Budget briefing paper 2025-2026

    by Greg Jericho, Charlie Joyce, Lisa Heap and Fiona Macdonald

    Authors

    Greg Jericho

    Chief Economist

    Charlie Joyce

    Researcher

    Lisa Heap

    Senior Researcher

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    The Centre for Future Work’s research team has analysed the Commonwealth Government’s budget.

    As expected with a Federal election looming, the budget is not a horror one of austerity. However, the 2025-2026 budget is characterised by the absence of any significant initiatives.  There is very little in this budget that is new other than the surprise tax cuts, which are welcome given they benefit mostly those on low-incomes. There are continuing investments in some key areas supporting wages growth, where it is sorely needed, and rebuilding important areas of public good. However, there remains much that needs to be done in the next parliament.

    This briefing paper reviews some of the main features of the budget, focusing on those aspects targeting and impacting on workers, working lives and labour markets.

    The establishment of a $1 billion Green Iron Investment Fund to provide capital grants to green iron projects is a significant investment. With $500 million of this fund going to the troubled Whyalla steelworks this investment should ensure ongoing integrity in the management of this vital industrial asset. We believe the government should take a significant ongoing stake in the ownership of the Whyalla steelworks. The $2 billion Green Aluminium Production Credit, to incentivise Australian aluminium smelters to switch to renewable electricity before 2036, is a necessary and welcome policy to assist the transition to a low emissions economy. Unfortunately, the credit is not available until 2028-2029.

    New and ongoing support for students in TAFE and in higher education are important cost-of-living measures while also making education and training more inclusive and accessible. There is some new funding for previously announced initiatives that support workers and wages growth and some funding for new wage increases in the female-dominated, and low-paid, aged care and early childhood education and care sectors; demonstrating the government’s commitment to addressing long-standing undervaluation of feminised care occupations. Continuing government support will be needed as the current Fair Work Commission review of awards to address undervaluation progresses.

    Other reforms in ECEC, along with previously announced changes to paid parental leave and carer payments, provide welcome, but belated, support for working parents and carers. It is disappointing to see that the opportunity has been missed to raise Job Seeker and Youth Allowances from their grossly inadequate levels.



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  • Briefing Paper: Restoring public sector capability through investment in public service employees

    Employment & Unemployment, Future of Work, Gender at Work, Governance & Government Agencies, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights, Public Sector, Procurement & Privatisation

    Briefing Paper: Restoring public sector capability through investment in public service employees

    by Lisa Heap

    Author

    Lisa Heap

    Senior Researcher

    The Australian Public Service (APS) is responsible for delivering some of the most crucial social services to all Australians. The APS workforce includes employees who deliver frontline services like in Medicare and Centrelink, those who administer the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), and those who assist service personnel and veterans via Veterans Affairs. These are just some of the functions that APS employees undertake. Behind front line service delivery staff are employees who support these staff, work to coordinate and integrate services and provide policy and regulatory advice to government.

    This briefing paper examines the make-up of the APS and considers recent efforts to improve APS service delivery. We conclude that recent investment in the employment of more APS employees has improved service delivery and that any reduction in APS employees will reduce service delivery or result in the engagement of more consultants and contractors.

    In this paper we debunk several of the myths promoted in the political debate around the size of Australia’s public service. One such myth is that Australia’s public service is “bloated” or “inefficient”. The research also found that despite claims to the contrary, most of the public service jobs created since 2022 were not based in Canberra.



    Restoring public sector capability through investment in public service employees

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  • Submission to Industrial Relations Victoria Inquiry on Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in Workplace Sexual Harassment Cases

    Employment & Unemployment, Gender at Work, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights, Wages & Entitlements

    Submission to Industrial Relations Victoria Inquiry on Restricting Non-Disclosure Agreements (NDAs) in Workplace Sexual Harassment Cases

    by Lisa Heap and David Peetz

    Authors

    Lisa Heap

    Senior Researcher

    David Peetz

    Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow

    It is generally reported that NDAs can benefit victim-survivors by providing anonymity and privacy where that is the victim-survivor’s choice. However, it is also reported that power imbalances between victim-survivors on the one hand and perpetrators and employers/organisation on the other have left workers feeling they had little choice but to sign NDAs.

    NDAs have had the impact of silencing victim-survivors, disguising the actions of perpetrators and covering up the prevalence of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence and harassment within organisations. At times, this has enabled harassers to remain in the same workplace or move within industries and continue to engage in sexual harassment.

    The focus of this submission is on the issues of transparency associated with NDAs and the impact of these agreements on public interest concerns regarding the prevention of sexual harassment and other forms of gender-based violence and harassment at work. We believe that greater transparency regarding the practices associated with settling sexual harassment claims will lead to greater accountability. This accountability should be supported by legislative reforms that mandate minimum conditions such as those set out in this submission.



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  • Submission to the Fair Work Commission Modern Award Review 2023-2024, Work and Care

    Gender at Work, Insecure & Precarious Work, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights, Wages & Entitlements

    Submission to the Fair Work Commission Modern Award Review 2023-2024, Work and Care

    by Fiona Macdonald

    Author

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    The Fair Work Commission’s Review of Modern Awards 2023-24 is considering the impact of workplace relations settings on work and care. This submission argues for good quality, secure part-time jobs to achieve more gender-equitable sharing of care and to support women’s full economic participation.



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  • Professionalising the Aged Care Workforce

    Gender at Work, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights

    Professionalising the Aged Care Workforce

    The case for worker registration and a mandatory qualification
    by Fiona Macdonald

    Author

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    Media release



    Aged care reforms fall short on quality, safety

    This paper presents the case for an aged care worker registration and accreditation scheme

    In accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety (Aged Care Royal Commission) the proposed scheme includes a requirement for attainment of a Certificate III qualification and engagement in ongoing training or continuing professional development (CPD).



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  • Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023

    Gender at Work, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights

    Submission to the Senate Community Affairs Legislation Committee on the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023

    Paid Parental leave reform needs to go further to meet best practice standards
    by Fiona Macdonald and Alexia Adhikari

    Authors

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    Alexia Adhikari

    Postdoctoral Research Fellow

    This joint submission by the Centre for Future Work and the Nordic Policy Centre argues for immediate further reform to bring Australia’s Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme up to international best practice standards.

    In this submission Fiona Macdonald, Centre for Future Work Policy Director and Alexia Adhikari, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Australia Institute, argue that current reforms don’t go far enough and are being implemented too slowly. A proposed entitlement of 26 weeks PPL to be phased in by July 2026 is far less than the international best practice standard of 52 weeks. The two-week ‘use it or lose it’ component reserved for each parent, and which is vital to encouraging more fathers to take leave to care for babies, is too short. Parental leave pay is too low, contributing to women’s economic disadvantage and inequality.

    The submission recommends that the PPL scheme be improved and extended further, including by:

    • Bringing parental leave pay up to a full replacement wage level or to the average wage, whichever is the lesser amount, and including superannuation payments.
    • Bringing forward the extension of the PPL scheme to 26 weeks from 1 July 2024 instead of July 2026 and further extending the scheme through phasing in an entitlement of 52 weeks.
    • Extending to eight weeks the ‘use it or lose it’ component of PPL.



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  • Unacceptable Risks

    Gig Economy, Gender at Work, Labour Standards & Workers’ Rights

    Unacceptable Risks

    The Dangers of Gig Models of Care and Support Work
    by Fiona Macdonald

    Author

    Fiona Macdonald

    Acting Director, Centre for Future Work

    Media release



    Workplace Law Reform Must Limit Cancer of ‘Gig Work’ in Care Economy: Research

    The gigification of care is creating insecure work, undermining gender inequality and damaging workforce sustainability.

    New research reveals the unacceptable risks of digital labour platforms and the expansion of gig work in low-paid feminised care and support workforces. Risks are to frontline care and support workers, people receiving care and support and to workforce sustainability.

    The report calls for comprehensive industrial reforms to address gig work as part of broader workforce strategies for the NDIS and aged care sectors.

    The research finds that care and support ‘gig’ workers, treated as independent contractors, are in highly insecure work without minimum standards and effective rights to collective bargaining.

    • Many essential frontline care and support workers earn below award-level pay.
    • Work and incomes are insecure: work is on-demand, working time is fragmented, pay can be unpredictable.
    • Workers must cover their own superannuation, leave and workers’ compensation.
    • Gig work in the feminised workforces poses a serious threat to better recognition and equal pay.
    • Better jobs and careers for frontline workers are vital to closing the gender pay gap.

    Four in every 5 of the 240,000 aged care and disability support workers are women.

    • Care and support workers on platforms are younger, less experienced and more likely to be migrant workers.
    • Platform workers lack access to support, training and progression opportunities.
    • Gig workers lack employment benefits and entitlements, including leave and superannuation.

    Flexibility of work is only possible with short hours work and comes at the expense of decent pay and working conditions. Workers cannot earn a living wage.

    • Risks to workers are also risks to vulnerable people with disability and the elderly.
    • Care and support platform workers are isolated and largely invisible, working in private homes without organisational supervision, support, guidance or training.
    • Workers bear risks and responsibilities for care and support quality and client safety, including for highly vulnerable people.
    • Care labour platforms compete unfairly with other NDIS and aged care providers.
    • Unfair competition poses a significant threat to the sustainability of Australia’s long-term care systems.

    Platforms compete by avoiding the costs and risks of business fluctuations, of employing workers and of accountability for care and support quality and safety. Costs and risks are devolved to low-paid and insecure frontline workers. Platforms profit from retaining public funding that is intended to employ and pay essential workers fairly and to provide them with supervision and support.



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  • The Times They Aren’t A-Changin (enough)

    Gender at Work

    The Times They Aren’t A-Changin (enough)

    It is past time to value women’s work equally
    by Eliza Littleton and Greg Jericho

    Authors

    Eliza Littleton

    Senior Economist

    Greg Jericho

    Chief Economist

    Media release



    Women Earn $1m less than men & $136,000 Less in Super over Working Life

    This report examines the barriers to closing the gender gap by reviewing Australia’s position within the industrial countries of the OECD. The report also uses data from the ABS and the ATO to highlight gender disparities across all levels of income, ranges of occupation and ages, as well as disparities regarding who undertakes the greater share of unpaid work.

    One clear concern is gender segregation, where either men or women dominate an occupation or industry. Men have higher average salaries than women in 95% of all occupations, including those where women dominate the workforce. For example, women account for 99% of all midwives, and yet are paid on average 19% less.

    We identify 80 occupations in which men make up 80% or more of the workforce; these occupations have an average salary above $100,000. In contrast, no occupation where women make up that share of the workforce has such a high average salary. This highlights how segregation has reinforced massive differences in pay.

    The report recommends policies to promote greater access to childcare and parental leave for both parents, family-friendly work practices, and the lifting of wages for industries dominated by women – most urgently in the care sector.



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  • Family & Domestic Violence Leave Review (AM2021/55)

    Gender at Work

    Family & Domestic Violence Leave Review (AM2021/55)

    Expert Report of Dr. James Stanford
    by Jim Stanford

    Author

    Jim Stanford

    As one of its first legislative acts, the new Commonwealth government is proposing to provide 10 days of paid leave for victims of family and domestic violence, as a right enshrined in Australia’s National Employment Standards. This will provide victims of FDV with important economic security as they work to address or escape their situations. Access to such leave has been shown to be effective in reducing the subsequent incidence of violence, and assisting victims and their families in rebuilding their lives.

    The legislation comes on the heels of an initial decision by the Fair Work Commission to enshrine 10 days paid FDV leave as a provision in Modern Awards.

    Our Director, Dr Jim Stanford, appeared as an expert witness last year before the FWC inquiry on this matter. He presented testimony estimating the ultimate impact of 10 days paid FDV leave on total labour costs in the Australian economy. He found that the final impact of this provision on total labour costs was almost too small to be measured (equivalent to an increase in labour costs of one-sixtieth of one percent — not enough to be visible in aggregate economic data). These costs are easily outweighed by the economic benefits of reducing the incidence of FDV.

    Dr Stanford’s full expert report is available below (as originally published by the FWC as part of its Family and domestic violence leave review 2021).



    Full submission

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