With the widespread onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Australian universities anticipated a significant loss of students and revenue and hence forecast the need for significant job reductions. Using Higher Education Statistics (HES) data on student numbers and full-time equivalent (FTE) staff by field of study, we explored changes which…

Employability has become a key concept that has attracted the attention of scholars and industries in many countries. At the same time, this concept is highly fluid and vague because its nature is not evidenced by real employment and differences in the nature of labour markets from country to country. Thus, it would be more worthwhile to discuss…

This paper presents an analysis of trends in actual full-time equivalent (FTE) university staff over 2000-2010 for Go8 and non-Go8 universities. Staff are classified by function as "Academic" or "Other". Academic staff are classified as Research Only (RO) or Teaching and Research (T&R) or Teaching Only (TO). The evidence…

The use of casual staff, including casual teaching staff, is a common practice in Australian universities and the numbers of casual staff in the sector has increased significantly in the last decade. The traditional profile for casual teachers was that of industry expert and students. Recent research has shown that the casual teacher is now more…

With life expectancy increasing, and changes to public policy aimed at encouraging older workers to stay in the workforce, the conditions under which people decide to retire have changed in recent years. This report describes the characteristics of those who continue to work beyond the age of 65. The findings show that two groups of workers, in…

Using a case study and surveys, assesses the major changes that have occurred in population trends within the nonmetropolitan sector of Australia, and South Australia in particular. Appears that a reversal in the long-standing pattern of increasing concentration of the population in large urban settings is continuing but at a slower pace than in…

Australian employment patterns for 1986-2000 are depicted in this report using a framework of nine occupational categories classified in terms of level/nature of skills and degree/nature of exposure to globalization. The categories are as follows: symbolic analytical services (conceptual, technical), in-person services (professional, intermediate,…

An analysis of the economic returns of education in Australia finds a rising need for education at a time of diminishing apparent returns. It is proposed that the notions of credentialism and education as a positional good provide a better explanation for this phenomenon than does the human capital approach. (MSE)

The report on women with non-English-speaking backgrounds (NESB) in the Australian labor force was prepared to review the experience and needs of this population in recent years and to examine the various available sources of information. The first section reviews the standard statistical sources and their research methodologies. The second and…

Three broad categories were identified among 340 occupations at the four-digit level of the Australian Standard Classification of Occupations: positively/opportunistically engaged in the global economy (conceptual/creative, conceptual/technical); vulnerable (manufacturing, white-collar clerical, blue-collar operative, manual low skill); and…

Migration patterns to and from Australia are becoming complex with migration programmes increasingly targeted towards meeting the needs of the labour market and regional development. This paper provides an analysis of the permanent and temporary movements of people to and from Australia in the last three years and their impact on the skilled…

A study investigated the effects of 1988 changes in Australian economic policy on the reward structures and employment trends, particularly for women, at two Australian universities: Murdoch and Edith Cowan. Results suggest that the new policy has been beneficial for some women, particularly at lower employment levels, but that climbing this more…

This paper examines issues of Australian teachers' professional development and personal welfare, pressing issues Australian education as a period of unprecedented change has been paralleled by significant and rapid aging of the Australian teaching population. Noting that the average age of teachers is 44 and rising, the paper argues that a major…

This volume contains papers on regional and global trends that affect the political factors which are changing the context within which academic mobility occurs: (1) "Introduction" (by Peggy Blumenthal and others); (2) "Political Dimensions of Regionalism in a Changing World" (David Leyton-Brown); (3) "Economic Dimensions…

A study investigated implications of the increase in non-standard forms of employment (casual work, working through labor-hire companies, and work that is outsourced) for vocational education and training (VET) in Australia. Data sources were published statistics on growth of non-standard work; research on reasons for the growth and the business…