The 1990s in Australia was characterised by relatively strong and persistent economic growth. For example, over the 8-year period 1992/93 to 1999/2000 GDP growth averaged 4.2 per cent per annum, well in excess of that experienced in most other Western nations. More importantly, growth in GDP per capita over this same period averaged 3 per cent per annum, not far behind the levels recorded during the 1960s (3.3 per cent over the decade), a period generally described as one when full employment prevailed. Moreover, despite a slowdown in 2000/01, economic growth accelerated again in 2001/02, growing by almost 4 per cent in the 12 months ended June 2002.

As would be expected, these relatively high persistent rates of output growth have translated into relatively high rates of growth in income. Real household disposable income per capita over the 10 years to June 2002 grew by 18 per cent, or an average of 1.6 per cent per annum.

This paper provides a broad overview of the role that unions have, and have not — played in the unfolding drama of public management reform in the United States. Factors impeding the ability of unions to shape the reform movement are highlighted. Fragmentation of power and even the absence of rudimentary collective bargaining rights in many locations restrict civil servants’ ability to influence the reform agenda. As a result, New Public Management (NPM) initiatives have progressed in a fashion that often works to the disadvantage of public workers. ‘De-privileging’, privatisation, and devolution of public agencies have become almost ubiquitous. The paper concludes with the observation that NPM offers a golden opportunity, if not the obligation, for management and labour to adopt a more cooperative and participatory approach to policy making in the workplace.

Having outlined a traditional model of British public sector industrial relations, this article focuses on developments from the 1980s to 2001. It argues that there has been a reorganisation of the state through privatisation and an historical shift in employment relations, from the state as a ‘model’, administrative employer to an increasingly managerial employer. In effect, a depoliticisation of employment relations has taken place, with the withdrawal of central government from direct control over operational and organisational activity in the public services. As part of these processes, the public services in Britain have been marketised, with the creation of a public service sector, no longer defined by ownership but by the service provided. These developments are reflected in the changing patterns of industrial relations activity in the public services, with profound implications for trade unionism.

The aim of this paper is to consider some of the issues raised by three recently published books: Unemployment: The Tip of the Iceberg edited by Mitchell and Carlson; The Price of Prosperity, edited by Saunders and Taylor; Work Rich, Work Poor edited by Borland, Gregory and Sheehan (referred to here as MC, ST and BGS) analysing recent trends in the Australian Labour Market.

For the decade since 1992, Australia has experienced a sustained rate of strong economic growth unprecedented in Australian economic history. This period of continuous strong growth in GDP has been accompanied by low inflation. (We might say that the low inflation has permitted the strong sustained growth because it has meant that the Reserve Bank of Australia has not seen the need over the period to impose the sort of draconian restrictive monetary policy of 1990-1.) The strong growth performance has been in the face of the Asian currency crisis from 1997, a recessed Japanese economy over the decade, slow growth in most of Europe, and some hesitations in the performance of the primary engine of world economic growth, the US economy.

This article traces the transformation of the Australian federal public service from an administrative towards a more managerial model of the state. The paper will argue that the process has been uneven and, at times, contested. A particular feature of the paper will be a discussion of the role of organised labour in the process. The paper outlines the central features of the administrative state model and the emerging features of the managerial model of the state. The focus of the paper is on the employment and industrial relations characteristics of public service employment. Comparison will be made between the different paths taken by the Labor government from 1983 and the Coalition government since 1996.

The last two decades have witnessed the unraveling of the Keynesian consensus and full employment that characterized the quarter century after World War II. Inequality and poverty have deepened and hundreds of thousands of Australians no longer have job security and are being intermittently or permanently shut out of the formal economy. This review article examines the social costs of unemployment focusing on The Price of Prosperity: The Economic and Social Costs of Unemployment (TPOP) edited by Peter Saunders and Richard Taylor.

The TPOP is an ambitious endeavour to quantify the costs of employment in a number of areas. Thus there are chapters on the impact of unemployment on health, poverty, inequality, indigenous Australians, youth, the family, crime and urban neighbourhoods. The chapters are consummate reviews of major Australian and international studies on the impact of unemployment, making the book a key text.

Organizations and governments have improved their environmental data collection and reporting performance since 1992, but it is still limited and focussed on specific problem solving rather than providing a national accounting framework for addressing environmental problems. In Australia evidence of the consideration of ‘sustainability’ goals in data collection and disclosure is growing through the development of ‘state of the environment’ reporting. The development of integrated environmental, economic and social information to support the application of more radical environmental modernisation ideas by organizations and governments is weak. Private and public sector organization reporting has improved, but there are still insufficient incentives to enhance it. This paper suggests more systematic reporting at the aggregate level by governments is essential if the environment is to be managed in a regular, balanced, sustainable and responsible way.

In this paper, it is argued that the benefits of competitive tendering and contracting have been overestimated, and that many of the apparent benefits actually reflect transfers rather than efficiency gains. Moreover, if arrangements for competitive tendering and contracting yield an inappropriate allocation of risk, such policies can reduce welfare rather than enhancing it as is commonly claimed. A number of case studies are presented to illustrate the latter proposition. Finally, some recommendations are presented for improvements in policy with respect to competitive tendering and contracting.

Throughout the 1990s, public hospitals embarked on a range of benchmarking exercises for support services, often accompanied by downsizing and, in some cases, outsourcing. These support services included clinical areas such as, radiology, pharmacy and pathology, and non-clinical areas of catering and cleaning, engineering and environmental services. The impetus for this trend was the introduction of the Federal Government’s National Competition Policy with its rationale that private sector pressures and competition would make the public sector more efficient.

Through a case study approach, this paper discusses this process at two public hospitals, the aim being to investigate the reasons for outsourcing, outsourcing’s interconnectedness with downsizing, and the implications at the workforce level. Workplace issues discussed include consultation between management, unions and employees, changes to employee numbers and work practices, maintenance of workplace conditions, implications for staff recruitment and retention, and the relative power of management and unions. It concludes that benchmarking, outsourcing and downsizing have all been used to bring about workplace change. Whilst the choice between processes may be dependent on management perception of the workplace environment, implications for the workplace from each process have been similar.

The purpose of this paper is to suggest ways in which core labour standards can be incorporated into the WTO. Though regarded by some as simply a vehicle for protectionism, the campaign for core labour standards is based on sound economics that extends the logic of trade regulation to the international dimension of labour. Getting agreement on core labour standards and enforcing them will be a difficult task, but one best conducted through the WTO using a joint ILO/WTO enforcement mechanism. It is argued that such a task will bring much-needed legitimacy to the WTO, and increase the chances that it can deliver a world of prosperous, open and fair trade.

This paper defines job sharing and explores its potential benefits. An overview of its origins and growth in Australia and overseas is followed by discussion of management issues. Organisational issues concern aspects of planning, implementation and operation. Issues for job sharers include finding an appropriate job share partner, maintenance of the job sharing relationship, protection of voluntary participation and preservation of pro rata benefits and other working conditions. A process for facilitating effective liaison between management, job sharers and trade unions is proposed. Job sharing is uncommon in Australia but may assist workers to balance work and family responsibilities or pursue interests outside work while avoiding many disadvantages of precarious work. For employers, it may facilitate retention of valued staff, reduce turnover, enhance recruiting or reduce staff costs. These propositions have not been rigorously tested, however, and avenues for future research are therefore explored.

Extensive organisational downsizing and restructuring has occurred in many countries since the 1980s. The negative consequences for workers forced into unemployment are well recognised. However, a growing body of evidence suggests there are also substantial, though less obvious, negative effects on workers who are retained. These effects may include impaired teamwork and productivity, damaged social networks and diminished social support, negative attitudes to work, elevated work-life conflict, a greater prevalence of negative health behaviours and impaired physical and psychological health. A cluster of behavioural and health effects observed amongst retained workers, described as ‘survivor syndrome’, is characterised by demoralisation, risk aversion, diminished organisational commitment and poorer health. These negative effects may be moderated to some extent by factors such as personality, gender, organisational level and age. A focus on more specific research questions and methodological refinements are likely to enhance future research in this area.

The very basis of Japan’s post-war economic growth was time and place specific. A fundamental failure to recognise the temporary nature of Japan’s success led the Japanese to make ad hoc changes, which served largely to prop up the prevailing status quo. Inevitably, Japan’s ability to sustain the level of growth required to maintain its economic system periodically faltered, before collapsing in the nineties.

A number of recent inquiries into Australia’s national training system have found it to be on the sick side. This article seeks the causes of this in the recent evolution of training policy, which commenced in the late 1980s. The article traces the demise of the first moderately interventionist National Training Reform Agenda, which union reformers played a role in shaping, through the increasing marketisation of training policy. Under the Liberal National Coalition, budget constraints and the short term interests of employers have increasingly driven training policy. The drift of policy is against the grain of prescriptions drawn from the international literature, which shows the need for interventionist measures to correct ‘market failure’, and to ensure adequate expenditure and the integrity of qualifications.

This paper is an analysis of the fiscal effects of the privatisation of the Victorian electricity industry. Privatisation is found to be approximately neutral in its effect on the net worth of the Victorian public sector. The buyers of electricity assets lost money, apparently because they anticipated more favourable regulatory treatment than they actually received. Electricity prices were increase prior to privatisation, and are still higher than those in states where the electricity industry has remained in public ownership, but consumers were not directly affected by privatisation as such. There were reductions in employment both before and after privatisation.