With the ascendancy of neoliberalism, the Australian state has not only remained strongly interventionist but has also expanded its sphere of influence and scope of activity. This is contrary to claims of a reduced, withered or slimmed neoliberal state. The Australian state's interventions have become increasingly varied in the overwhelming pursuit of structural competitiveness. It has developed an extensive ‘micro-structuring’ role, particularly through the creation of new regulatory instruments and institutions, but has not relinquished its economic ‘macro-structuring’ role notwithstanding changes to macroeconomic policy priorities. The Australian state's interventions have shaped all institutional forms comprising the mode of régulation that guides and supports the accumulation regime. This article discusses the reconfiguration of the Australian state and the forms of its ongoing interventions which have secured and sustained the contemporary growth regime.

One of the characteristics of the WorkChoices legislation introduced by the Howard government was the anti-union bias that permeated it. Some argue that this is appropriate because unions increase minimum wages, and economic theory shows that this will decrease employment and hence output. The Rudd government has signalled that it intends changing this anti-union bias, while at the same time restoring the role and coverage of minimum wages. This paper examines the arguments around these issues and concludes that neither side of the economic theory debate has delivered a knockout blow. The theoretical analysis is followed by a section looking at empirical evidence on the effects of deregulating labour markets. Again there is not complete consensus among the economics profession. However, both sides of the debate on the effects of labour market deregulation agree that strong minimum wage legislation does significantly reduce earnings inequality by increasing earnings at the bottom end of the distribution. The paper concludes that the increase in inequality consequent on labour market deregulation has adverse effects on the economy in the short run and disturbing longer run effects on society.

The Howard Government, supported by the Labor Opposition, legislated in 2007 to enable small businesses to engage in collective bargaining with large businesses under the Trade Practices Act. The object of the legislation is to facilitate greater equality in the bargaining power of the parties. Except where the small business sells goods/commodities rather than a service, a person who is ‘employed’ and the business that provides a ‘service’ are both effectively involved in the sale of labour or in the performance of work in the labour market. However, the legal concepts and procedures relating to collective bargaining in these two types of labour transactions are different. One, the ‘employment’ of persons, is placed in the category of workplace relations operating through labour law; the other, the ‘sale of services', is viewed as a commercial transaction, dealt with through commercial law. This paper considers the question of whether there are sufficiently significant differences between these labour/service transactions as to justify the application of two separate sets of laws to deal with them — one to cover transactions between employers and employees, and the other to cover transactions between small and large businesses. A case study will be used to illustrate the involved and unsatisfactory approach of the commercial law route in determining what is in essence a labour transaction rather than a commodity transaction.

The privatisation of economic infrastructure in Australia that began in the 1980s has continued to be actively pursued by state and federal governments. Evaluations of the effects of the change of policy, ownership, control and regulatory arrangements that have accompanied privatisation and their impact on the longer-term stock of infrastructure and the growth of the economy have received less attention than the immediate privatisation decisions. This article reviews some of the studies that have been carried out to evaluate the impact of privatisation, focusing on long-term impacts on infrastructure provision. In particular, it discusses the myopia created by the emphasis on commercial transactions and managing markets that continues to shape the debate about the provision of infrastructure to meet Australia's economic, environmental and other objectives. Objectives have become even more difficult to achieve as an increasingly extensive and complex regulatory framework is required to manage privatised activities. This adds to costs and limits the potential for the introduction of new initiatives to address pressing problems. The issue is increasingly relevant, given the current perceived shortage of infrastructure and the flow-on effects of the current international financial crisis on Australia. The slow-down in economic growth accompanying the financial crisis is putting pressure on government budgets and threatening to perpetuate the existing policy bias towards short-term solutions, exacerbating the longer run problem of ensuring an adequate supply of public economic infrastructure.

Social exclusion is influencing how social policy issues are conceived, debated, researched and addressed, particularly in Europe. It has also been given prominence as a focus of the Rudd Government's social policy agenda. This paper reviews the debate over the definition and measurement of social exclusion, focusing on its relationship with poverty, defined in terms of low-income. The analysis is based on the premise that conceptual and measurement issues can play an important role in identifying causation, and thus point to the kinds of actions needed to address the problem. The argument is illustrated by drawing on recent Australian research that shows that exclusion takes many different but often inter-connected forms, and that there is a low degree of overlap between exclusion and poverty. The implications of the findings for research and policy are briefly discussed.

In this qualitative study based on in-depth interviews with fifteen older public housing tenants in inner-city neighbourhoods in Sydney, the life circumstances of older public housing tenants are explored. A primary aim of the study was to interrogate the notion that public housing is a form of housing tenure that is no longer worth pursuing due to it being a harbinger of misery and social exclusion for its residents. The research suggests that this conclusion is, in many ways, mythology. For the older public housing tenants interviewed, being accommodated in this tenure form was viewed as a ‘life-saver’. Despite the ever-increasing residualisation of public housing, the provision of affordable, adequate and secure accommodation in convenient locations gave them the capacity to pursue a life that they valued.

Meeting the education and training needs of low-skill working adults will require a transformation of United States workforce development policy. A significant component of this transformation is the development of education and training programs that are crafted around the needs of these workers. Traditional classroom based learning — which is inflexible in time and place — presents a series of barriers to low-skill adults. This article documents the relationship between educational attainment and labour market status in the US. It explores the extent to which the use of technology and online learning may help to equalise access to education and training by providing learning opportunities that can better incorporate working adults' work, education and family demands.