Home › All articles

Work, Family and Care

Here you will find articles on issues ranging from industrial relations, wages and the labour market.

Employment rights

Industrial relations

Welfare Policy

Work/life balance

The Rudd Christmas Bonus: Populism or evidence based policy?

Eva Cox outlines her response to the Rudd Government's announcement of a $4.8 billion dollar pension relief package which was announced as part of the October 14 2008 recession bailout. The Rudd Government claims to be pursuing evidence based policy but this is not obvious in much of what it is doing, says Eva. Rather, it often seems to display levels of cynical populism, especially with this payout.


Common Ground: Paid maternity leave

CPD's flagship public event series, Common Ground, kicked off on Wednesday April 23rd in Sydney. Sharan Burrow, President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and Tony Steven, CEO of the Council of Small Business of Australia explored what they have in common on the topic of paid maternity leave. Common Ground was opened by David McKnight, author of 'Beyond Right and Left', and moderated by Marie Claire editor Jackie Frank.


Australian Workplaces: What rights? Whose rights? Your say...

06/25/2007 16:00 - 18:00
The Honourable Paul Munro will speak on the rights based approach to regulating employment relations at an Australian Institute of Employment Rights (AIER) event at the end of June.


A Rather Too Conservative First Year

CPD fellow Eva Cox assesses the Rudd Government's performance on Indigenous issues, income support, child care and parental leave: Rudd has apologised to the Stolen Generation, signed Kyoto and fixed some of the worst conditions for asylum seekers. These actions seemed to suggest a serious change in political directions, but other signs show he is leading a government designed to avoid scaring off the Howard voters. This is worrying as the social agenda of the government could be defined as a more modern form of social conservativism, with some residual neo-liberal tendencies. It lacks the fire and imagination that would challenge some of the retrograde social assumptions that drove most of the last government’s policies.


Paid Maternity Leave: Time for One Last Push

Natasha Stott Despoja on Paid Maternity Leave: After the past few months with the deliberations and report of the Productivity Commission, it looks like Paid Maternity Leave (PML) may finally happen – that is, unless the Government can think of reasons to delay further. But what took them so long and, more to the point, why did both major parties persistently kill legislation that has been on the table for over 6 years?


Abuse and Neglect in Care - Then and Now

Philip Mendes considers contemporary leaving care policy and practice: Looking at the 2004 Forgotten Australians report on people who experienced institutional or out-of-home care as children, it would be very easy to conclude that these events were an historical anomaly which have little bearing on contemporary child welfare policy and practice. And to be sure the state care system has changed considerably since that time, and arguably for the better. But the evidence suggests that some (and perhaps even many) children and young people currently or recently in care have experienced forms of abuse and neglect similar to those described in the Forgotten Australians, and that this abuse and neglect is similarly undermining their long-term life chances. So there is no doubt that we need to learn some key lessons from the Forgotten Australians if we are to avoid similar suffering in the future.


How Productive is Social Policy?

Sean Regan writes: The ideal of social and economic integration is one to which few object, at least in public (what is moot is the kind of integration we’d accept). For social democrats ‘fairness’ and ‘prosperity’ are a passable shorthand; and ‘social inclusion’ an adequate policy framework. Clearly, though, these terms have to be unpacked and their practical applications spelled out, as there is an inherent tension between the two elements of the putative integration.


WELA submission to the Productivity Commission about Paid Maternity Leave

As Chairperson for the Women's Electoral Lobby Australia (WELA), I've been heavily involved in preparing a submission for the Productivity Commission's inquiry into Paid Maternity, Paternity and Parental Leave.

The WELA strongly supports introducing industrial based, paid maternity leave as soon as possible with three clear arguments supporting this proposal:

1. Financial reasons for maintaining income in households around the time of birth rather than decreasing it by the loss of an income earner;



Mean tests: middle class welfare or redistributive fairness?

Arguing in favour of universal paid maternity leave, Eva Cox scrutinises means tests and government payments.


A Long Time Coming: the Advent of Paid Maternity Leave in Australia?

Marian Baird looks at the state of paid parental leave in Australia and argues in favour of a clear and comprehensive scheme.


12345678next ›last »
Syndicate content

This site is the home of the Centre for Policy Development. It is kindly hosted for us by .
Contact us if you'd like to know more about what you see here.