Forty years from now, Australia's ageing population will have reduced the country's total workforce participation rate to 62%, income growth will have slowed, and the average annual wage will be $117,300, according to the Treasury's latest long-term forecast, released today.
As the Productivity Commission begins its far-reaching IR inquiry, the first major study of Australian workplaces since 1995 shows most employers believe that workplace productivity levels are steady or improving under the existing regime.
The Fair Work Commission failed to meet its target for finalising unfair claims in 2013-14 due to a big spike in applications early in the reporting period and a shortage of conciliators.
The number of "female breadwinners" is rising, but women are still doing far more housework than men, according to the latest HILDA survey from the University of Melbourne.
Unions lost almost 93,000 members in the 12 months to August last year and density plunged to new lows of 17% overall and 12% in the private sector, according to the ABS.
The body charged with reviewing the Fair Work Act has suggested that centralised wage-setting under awards might hamper the effectiveness of market signals and lead to artificially inflated pay rates, in a recently-released report on labour mobility in Australia.
The Fair Work Commission has pushed the federal and state governments to show their hands in this year's wage review, asking them what dollar or percentage increase would constitute a "cautious" or "balanced" approach.
New analysis by the ACTU argues that the real agenda of the Commission of Audit's suggested changes to the national minimum wage is to reduce the pay safety net for 1.5 million workers who receive award minimum rates.
