Miscellaneous

In addition, we conduct research adjacent to the industrial area such as labour market analysis. Recent projects have included:

Working Holiday Maker labour market effects

By the end of 2000, Australia had reciprocal working holiday maker (WHM) arrangements with eight foreign countries which permitted young (18 to 30 years of age) holiday makers to work in Australia for a period of up to 12 months but for a maximum of three months with any one employer. The eight participating countries were the United Kingdom (UK), Ireland, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Malta and Germany. This project with began in 1999 has estimated the effects on the Australian labour market of the existing WHM scheme and to make some estimates of the effects of extending the scheme to other countries. In doing so, it examines the profile of WHMs and their employment activities. This project was funded by DEWR and DIMA.

Work and training histories in the trade labour markets

While governments have traditionally provided and financed much of the investment in off-the-job skill development, there is a limit to the extent this can provided the full complement of skills. Skill development is usually sequential and relies upon an integration of formal training with practical experience.

Funded by NCVER, this project which began in 2000 aimed to document the training and work experience careers of men who have worked at sometime in their career in the skilled and unskilled manual occupations. It involves a survey of 1000 men.

Webster E and Jarvis K, 2003. The Occupational Career Paths of Australian Tradesmen. Published as Webster, E. and Jarvis K. (2003) The Occupational Career Paths of Australian Tradesmen , Labour and Industry. 14(2), 61-82.

The Labour Market for Australian Teachers

Although there is a general consensus that teachers are important for student learning, there is little discussion of the process by which teachers are employed by schools: the teacher labour market. We argue, based on a mix of a priori and inductive reasoning, that inflexible attitudes about comparative wages have contributed toward chronic shortages of qualified teachers in specialized teacher labour markets and poor incentives for excellent teachers to remain teaching.

Webster, E, Wooden M and Marks G. 2004. Reforming the Labour Market for Australian Teachers. Published as Webster E, Marks G & Wooden M. 2006. Reforming the Labour Market for Australian Teachers. Australian Journal of Education. 50 (2): 185-202.

Webster, E. Wooden, M. and Marks, G. (2005) Teaching and the Teacher Labour Market. The Case for Reform, Australian Economic Review, 38(1), 91-8.

Training for the Skilled Trades in Australia: 1980 To 2000

Relatively high levels of unqualified tradesman suggests some type of failure by the training system to provide an appropriate mix and quantity of training courses for workers and businesses. This project examined the labour market for skilled trades people from 1980 to 2000 in this light of recent developments in trade training.