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Low-paid services employment in Australia: dimensions, causes, effects and responses (2004–2008)


This project by the Centre for Work + Life at the University of South Australia was a major Australian research project involving researchers and advocates from academic, union and welfare sectors to examine the effects of low pay on Australian workers, households, and the national social and economic fabric. This project was funded through an ARC Linkage grant and also by project partners: the Australian Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Workers Union (LHMU), the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Unions NSW, SA Unions and Victorian Trades Hall Council.

The project focused on case studies in three industries (cleaners, hotel workers and child care) with each case study being conducted in a different state (Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia). The study included interviews and focus groups with 92 low-paid workers and with service providers.

The project examined four key questions:

  1. What are the dimensions of low-paid jobs and workers in Australia?
  2. What are the causes of low-paid work in Australia?
  3. What are the effects of low-paid work on individuals? What is their experience of work, and the effects on their households and communities?
  4. What policy interventions and other responses are most appropriate?

In answering these questions, particular attention was paid to:

Living low paid coverA book, Living low paid: the dark side of prosperous Australia written by Dr Helen Masterman-Smith and Professor Barbara Pocock, arose out of the study and was published by Allen & Unwin in 2008. The book was launched by the Hon Tanya Plibersek, Minister for Housing and Minister for Status of Women in late October 2008.

The research from this project has been presented at conferences, published in journals and cited in federal government enquiries and state wage case hearings.

Please refer to a list of project outputs here

Media releases and interviews

University of South Australia media release, 27 October 2008: True stories of Australia's working poor: new book uncovers the dark side of the lucky country

ABC Life Matters, 30 October 2008: Living low paid
'Low-paid workers make up one quarter of all workers in Australia. And yet they're barely noticed or supported. That's the view of the authors of Living Low Paid: The Dark Side of Prosperous Australia. Interview with Helen Masterman-Smith and Barbara Pocock'

CBS BTalk Australia, 4 March 2009, interview with Phil Dobbie: Barbara Pocock, Living Low Paid

Book review

Tim Ayres, 'Better work? Low pay, trade unions and regulation in the United States and Australia', Australian Review of Public Affairs, May 2009.

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