Fixing care systems to focus on people, not profit, can deliver significant economic and social benefits. Great research from Fiona Mcdonald and Matt Saunders.

Centre for Future Work@futurework.bsky.social · 4w ago

New research finds that the for-profit dominated market is at the heart of many of the ECEC system’s ongoing problems, and fails to consistently deliver safe, high-quality care to all children. futurework.org.au/report/the-r... #auspol #ECEC #Childcare #AusEcon #NotForProfit @unitedworkers.org.au

Australia is out of step with governments around the world in acting to prevent AI harms at work, writes Dr Fiona Macdonald. To build trust, the government will need to do more than taking a hands-off approach. #AIRegulation #FutureOfWork #ResponsibleAI futurework.org.au/news/governm...

'Human labour cannot be treated as a commodity that changes price at the whim of the market.' With visitors to Canada for the FIFA World Cup navigating an unfamiliar tipping system, Dr Fiona Macdonald spoke to The Tyee in Canada about Australian hospitality wages. thetyee.ca/News/2026/07...

FIFA Puts a Spotlight on Tipping | The Tyee

As visitors from other countries poured into Vancouver bars and restaurants, some encountered an unfamiliar practice.

thetyee.ca

Following our April symposium on AI and decent work, we've published insights from our speakers – a diverse group of researchers, unionists, and advocates who came together to examine Australia's options for AI regulation in the workplace. futurework.org.au/news/which-w...

Great job with great people!!!!!👇

Centre for Future Work@futurework.bsky.social · 2mo ago

JOB ALERT! We're currently searching for a senior researcher to join the Centre for Future Work team. The senior researcher will lead an ambitious research & policy project, focussing on promoting climate adaptation & export strategies that create quality jobs. futurework.org.au/news/job-ope...

Come work with us! We need a senior researcher to explore how we create good jobs that make economic and fiscal sense through the climate transition. You'll be working with some great union and academic folks - and us!

Centre for Future Work@futurework.bsky.social · 2mo ago

JOB ALERT! We're currently searching for a senior researcher to join the Centre for Future Work team. The senior researcher will lead an ambitious research & policy project, focussing on promoting climate adaptation & export strategies that create quality jobs. futurework.org.au/news/job-ope...

"Enduring realignment: gender and geography in Australian independent and minor party politics". New and open access from @phoebehayman.bsky.social, @bspiesbutcher.bsky.social and me in @ausjpolsci.bsky.social @auspsa.bsky.social @popgroupaus.bsky.social www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

What’s the Budget *really* about? For the quick answer:

Centre for Future Work@futurework.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We've released our 2026–27 Budget Briefing, where we unpack what the Federal Budget really means for jobs, wages, living standards, and public services – and where it falls short for working people. Read our full analysis: futurework.org.au/report/budge...

Asset prices have been racing ahead of wages, while taxes often hit wages harder than capital gains. Tax changes begin to respond to the frustration felt by workers and renters, but spending priorities leave many behind. Great to speak with Stephen Long about #Budget2026

The Saturday Paper@thesaturdaypaper.com.au · 3mo ago

The focus on a fairer tax system for workers leaves out more than four million Australians on welfare, many living in poverty, writes Stephen Long. satpa.pe/fJiobpL

Last night's Budget begins to tackle decades of rising inequality, as asset prices have outpaced wages and tax settings have favoured asset owners over workers. The spending side is less compelling. Great to be working with the team at @futurework.bsky.social

Centre for Future Work@futurework.bsky.social · 3mo ago

We've released our 2026–27 Budget Briefing, where we unpack what the Federal Budget really means for jobs, wages, living standards, and public services – and where it falls short for working people. Read our full analysis: futurework.org.au/report/budge...

Exciting news! Next week I join the amazing team at the Centre for Future Work! futurework.org.au/news/new-ceo...

Last week Bill Shorten proposed a new federal fund to reinvigorate the #HigherEd sector. Will Brehm, the brilliant host of Fresh Ed, reached out to talk through exactly how a #university fund might work. This is our piece in Pearls and Irritations @johnmenadue.com johnmenadue.com/post/2026/03...

Bill Shorten’s university proposal breaks the deadlock – but design will decide its value

Bill Shorten’s proposal for a university fund tackles a long-standing funding problem – but its impact will depend on how it is designed and delivered.

johnmenadue.com

Great piece by @squigglyrick.bsky.social on #BasicIncome as an antidote to the austerity of our brutal conditionality thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

What if we just gave people money? The economics of time and freedom

The idea that there’s only so much money to go around makes a bastard kind of sense to the poor. If impossible decisions abound in their lives, it must be true of governments, too. Certainly, that’s h...

thepoint.com.au

Melbourne: British inequality scholar Matthew Johnson joins me in conversation this Monday 3pm at Monash Uni Caulfield campus, to discuss his work fighting inequality and rebuilding social democracy. FREE PUBLIC TALK Monday 16/3 3pm Caulfield campus bit.ly/common-sense...

Monash MFJ Presents: Matthew Johnson on Common Sense policies for a New Social Contract

Growing inequality, economic stagnation and the rise of the populist right are putting pressure on our democratic system. But there are policy interventions that can address the pressing problems that...

bit.ly

2026: how i learnt my masala dosa depends on the strait of hormuz x.com/pHequals7/st...

In 1988 an innocuous Australian government agency was tasked with gathering statistics for industry. Its work made it a flashpoint for critics who charged that it helped rationalise climate denial. With ABARE's internal records now open access, I took or look for @drilledmedia.bsky.social. /1

“Simply Cannot Be Ignored”: How Australia’s fossil fuel industry shaped the climate future by capturing economic models

Heatwaves and bushfires burned across southern Australia this January thanks in part to climate change. An Australian government agency once insisted it might not happen.

drilled.media

Clearly it’s time to appoint a permanent officer in the government to look over all the festival programs. Some fellow in a centralised office where all the art can be submitted beforehand, to make sure it’s socially cohesive. Some kind of Chief Approver, if you like www.abc.net.au/news/2026-02...

Questions about Randa Abdel-Fattah inclusion in NSW writers festival

The NSW government makes contact with the board of next month's Newcastle Writers Festival about the inclusion of Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah, the ABC understands.

abc.net.au

McIntosh’s complaint said the knowledge that the child actors depict such scenes was "grotesque and a clear contravention of the ABC’s Code of Practice". If only she was as concerned about the grotesque actual treatment of First Nations children by LNP govts. www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

Liberal MP complains to ABC managing director about Tony Armstrong’s satire special

Melissa McIntosh, who claims Always Was Tonight violated ABC charter, has been dubbed the ‘Liberal party fun police’ by the Greens

theguardian.com

The US Holocaust Museum being more outraged by Tim Walz saying that, like Anne Frank, children today are in hiding from armed agents of the state, than they are about the fact that children are in hiding from armed agents of the state, is why Holocaust remembrance culture is in crisis.

Feel like a man throwing a homemade IED into a large crowd at an invasion day rally should be bigger news

Great to see Bristol's Green councillors making case for a trial Universal Basic Income - a guaranteed payment that would have huge benefits for groups like care leavers, and give a massive boost to culture and the arts. bristolgreenparty.org.uk/greens-call-...

Greens Call for Universal Basic Income Trial for Bristol - Bristol Green Party

Bristol Green councillors have put forward a motion to Bristol City Council calling for the Government to fund a trial of universal basic income (UBI) in the city. A universal...

bristolgreenparty.org.uk

"Superannuation is supposed to be for retirement. Unfortunately, it has become like Australia’s own internal tax haven and inheritance scheme for wealthy people." @taxjustice.net's Mark Zirsnak #ThePoint thepoint.com.au/opinions/260...

Watered-down superannuation reform to go back to Parliament

Superannuation is supposed to be for retirement. Unfortunately, it has become like Australia’s own internal tax haven and inheritance scheme for wealthy people.

thepoint.com.au

If the Palestine Action hunger strikers die - which they could do at any moment, as they are now very close to the end - it will be the government that killed them. Today’s column explains why. Please share, and write urgently to your MP. www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Let’s be clear: if the Palestine Action hunger strikers die, the government will bear moral responsibility | George Monbiot

The three remaining hunger strikers have been convicted of nothing. Yet with astonishing cruelty, ministers refuse to listen to their reasonable demands, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

theguardian.com

Also while I was madly packing up my house, a new paper came out where we consider how housing ties together the Australian public and the Reserve Bank of Australia - adding a new layer of complexity to monetary policy making. www.ppesydney.net/content/uplo...

"Treasury figures reveal $18 billion capital gains windfall for Australia’s richest 10 per cent" Form me in @thepointau.bsky.social thepoint.com.au/off-the-char...

Treasury figures reveal $18 billion capital gains windfall for Australia’s richest 10 per cent

The latest tax expenditure figures released on Friday by the Treasury department show this financial year the richest 10 percent of Australians will receive $18bn worth of tax breaks from the capital ...

thepoint.com.au

How about business leaders first institute all the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry?

"How else is New York’s City Hall booby-trapped to prevent progress on housing? What forces barricade the staircase, and what snipers lie in wait for a mayor who dares challenge the real estate state?" Spectacular essay on the real deep state of FIRE sector jewishcurrents.org/zohran-mamda...

Zohran Mamdani Vs. the Real Estate State

Can the mayor-elect overcome the snares being set for his affordable housing agenda?

jewishcurrents.org

Shockwaves in Europe & in Asia. As Policytensor puts it "We have the W Hemisphere, Europe & the Middle East but no Asia. The only core, vital US interest in the Indo-Pacific is described as the security of sea-lanes,supply chains,&critical minerals. No mention of Japanese, Korean,Taiwanese security"

Ulrike Franke@rikefranke.bsky.social · 9mo ago

A few thoughts on the new US national security strategy that was released today. 🧵 www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/u...

Listen to George Megalogenis, @frankbongiorno.bsky.social @bspiesbutcher.bsky.social @emilyrosefoley.bsky.social and I discuss if Australia is entering a new political era. With record electoral shifts reshaping class, gender, race, and power dynamics, what does the future hold for our democracy?

Great to see this event we organised, with funds from @auspsa.bsky.social and featuring George Megalogenis, @frankbongiorno.bsky.social @bspiesbutcher.bsky.social @lizhumphrys.bsky.social & @emilyrosefoley.bsky.social has been made into a podcast by UTS Impact Studios. pod.link/1760672339/e...