David Peetz
David Peetz is Laurie Carmichael Distinguished Research Fellow at the Carmichael Centre in the Centre for Future Work and Professor Emeritus of Employment Relations at Griffith University.
David's recent articles
13 April 2025
Sherlock Holmes investigates the wages explosion that never was
I like to imagine that, if Arthur Conan Doyle were still alive, and had turned his creation, Sherlock Holmes, to solving the economic mysteries of the 21st century, he would have written this conversation:
3 July 2024
New rights for union delegates with surprising origins and effects
On 1 July, an important change in the industrial relations landscape came into force. Industrial awards (‘modern awards’, as they’re now called), that set minimum standards in workplaces, will include guarantees of rights for workplace union delegates. All new enterprise agreements must also include such provisions.
15 February 2024
Does closing the loopholes matter?
Three big things have happened with the passage of thesecond half of the Closing Loopholes Bill through Federal Parliament on Monday.
19 December 2023
Closing Loopholes Bill confronts the new realities of self-employment
Self-employment has changed in recent years. Its been both shrinking and becoming more precarious. Proportionately, there are fewer business owners and theres more gig work.
7 September 2023
Will Closing the Loopholes protect 'gig economy' workers?
One of the most important aspects of the governments Fair Work Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill is the detailed provisions covering gig workers. Those provisions account for 100 pages of the 284-page bill.
20 December 2022
Dire union membership rates suppressing wages growth
Last week, the Australian Bureau of Statistics released its biennial trade union membership statistics. The results were dire for unions, but they also have implications for further reform of the Fair Work Act.
14 December 2022
Secure Work Act: Dont expect a surge in wages too soon
Will the new Secure Work Act lead to a resurgence of wages growth?
21 November 2022
The Secure Work Bill inches Australia into the 21st Century
The world of work has changed a lot in the past half century.
5 September 2022
Minister Tony Burke says IR system fails workers
The jobs and skills summit produced some concrete outcomes in areas like migration, technical and further education, and workforce participation by older workers. Some processes based around tripartism (engagement between business, unions, and government) were established.
16 June 2022
The minimum wage decision, inflation and the low paid
The Real Unit Labour Cost is presently 20 per cent lower than it wasin 1986 meaning the growth in productivity gains to employers has been substantially higher than the growth in real wages.
29 May 2022
501 reasons why deportations damage Australia in the Pacific
The new Australian government wants to push back against Chinese military expansion in the Pacific. It needs the support of the Pacific Islanders themselves. That also means getting rid of a deportation policy with overtones that are, for want of another term, racist.
18 May 2022
Low wages are a deliberate design feature
Wages are depressed by several forces. Workers bargaining power has been reduced by declining union density and changing industrial laws. There is growing pressures on firms to sell products at cheap, non-negotiable prices. And there are tight public sector salary caps.
12 May 2022
Albanese and minimum wages. Should the government support a 5.1% increase ?
There has never been a better time to increase minimum wages than now. And there has never been a bigger need.
29 April 2022
If I were the Minister for Employment in the next government these are the three priority things I would do
Fix the Institutions, the Fair Work Act and Casual Employment
19 August 2021
The end of a just transition on coal. There will be disruption.
Last weeks report by the IPCC (the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) shows that the prospects of achieving a just transition to a green economy have all but disappeared.
4 August 2021
Why dont farmers just raise wages to get workers?
Are powerful retailers who set farm prices the real problem in keeping wages down?
16 December 2020
Bad Gig: industrial relations reform bill delivers flexibility for employers
When one-third of casuals work full-time hours, almost 60% have been with their employer for more than a year, and more than half cannot choose the days they work, is the flexibility of a casual job really for the benefit of employees?
19 August 2020
Gig workers falling through pandemic protection
Many people have pointed out how various groups have been forgotten in the official response to the Covid-19 pandemic: casual workers, temporary migrants, and anyone involved in universities.
21 June 2020
University reforms pose bigger problems than many realise.
Much of the controversy about the governments university package, just announced, has centred on its impact on the arts and humanities. But the problems are much deeper, affecting other faculties and indeed universities' viability.