Since its election in 1996 the Howard Government has invested billions of dollars in Australian families with children. Much of this money has been delivered through policies the Government claims will 'support families in the choices they wish to make' about how they combine paid work and...

Since the Labor Government’s election in 2007, debate around working-time flexibility has continued unabated. Employers argue that increasing employer-orientated flexibility through changes to minimum working-time standards and individual flexibility agreements is the path to enhanced...

To date, Australia has no national paid maternity leave scheme, and access to such leave remains limited. In the private and community sectors in particular, workplace provision of paid maternity leave relies on individual enterprise initiatives. However, we still know relatively little about...

This article summarises the main results of the 2008 Australian Work and Life Index (AWALI) survey of Australian workers. The survey reveals significant issues for Australian workers that arise from the intersection of work with the rest of their lives. Hours of work, work overload and the...

This paper applies a work-life lens to examine the barriers and challenges confronting low-paid workers in their participation in vocational education and training. It utilises data from a large national survey of Australian workers, as well as qualitative material arising from interviews and...

The purpose of this article is to illuminate the views and experiences of workplace representatives in Australia in the context of falling union density, and to analyse factors that are most strongly associated with subjective union power at the workplace level, as perceived by delegates. The...