Previous Research

The Changing Skill Needs of the Services Sector in Victoria

The Victorian Office of Training and Tertiary Education (part of the Department of Education and Training) have recently commissioned a project to examine the skill requirements in selected service industry sectors. The project is also examining the causes of any skill gaps, and propose possible strategies to ensure that skill and knowledge requirements are met. The sectors being studied include: financial and accounting services, information and communications technology, health and community services, tourism and hospitality, sport and recreation and retail trade. Amongst other things, the project is looking at new skills and occupations that are in demand, the recasting of skill requirements in light of the proliferation of IT, increasing demands for customer service skills and claims around the increasing significance of knowledge work. The project involves visits to over 20 Victorian workplaces, key informant interviews with stakeholders and industry representatives and some analysis of available secondary data sources.

Bonus system review project

A prominent Australian mining company has commissioned WRC to assess and make recommendations for improving their current employee bonus scheme. The first phase of the project has been completed and involved the utilisation of ADAM and other sources to document bonus schemes in the mining industry in Australia, the US and Canada. The project is now in its field work phase. Over the winter, our researchers will conduct a comprehensive consultation with unions and mine management at the company's mines, in order to fully assess the operation of the current set of schemes, and possible alternatives to them.

Evaluating agreement options

WRC was retained by a large manufacturing organistion to provide feedback on the views of employee, union and management stakeholders on the operation of the current wages and conditions regulatory frameworks in the organisation. In addition to one on one interviews with union officials and senior managers we also conducted focus groups of employees. The organisaion is now examining its options for reforming the forms of coverage.

Study of Representative structures

WRC undertook a review of the representative and organising structures of a major NSW union using a multi-dimensional research strategy including interviews of officials, surveys of representatives in decision-making forums and 20 focus groups of members in metropolitan and non-metropolitan regions. The review developed options for reconfiguring the union's structures to enhance membership activism, participation, and engagement with the union's campaigns and processes.

Manufacturing and Engineering Project

Client: TAFE NSW.

The Manufacturing and Engineering Division of TAFE NSW and WRC are working together on a project to gain a better understanding of the industry's changing skill and training needs. The research is based on a series of industry case studies across NSW undertaken by TAFE personnel with assistance from WRC research staff.

The project is driven by two key objectives:

1. Contributing a greater understanding of industries relationship with TAFE and the training system.
2. The professional development of TAFE personnel in the skills of research and industry analysis.

The project is concerned with understanding the underlying issues confronted by industry and how TAFE might better reconfigure its operations to ensure that workers and students are better able to access what TAFE has to offer.

MEAA Occupational Health and Safety

Client: MEAA

WRC has been commissioned by the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance to investigate the key OH&S issues for journalists, graphic artists, camera crews and photographers. Focus groups are being conducted for the various groups with a view to developing an initial guide to common issues of concern.

World of Work Cluster

This project is supported by a grant from the University of Sydney. The purpose is to bring together researchers from around the University with an interest in the World of Work. Researchers involved include staff from WRC, WOS, Psychology, Law, Government, Economics, and Social Work and Policy. The first project will involve the development of a Quality of Work Life index, based on a national based household survey of employees. The survey will for the first time collect information on a range of work an family issues.

ACTU Future of Work

Client: ACTU

WRC has been commissioned by the ACTU to produce an accessible analysis of the changing nature of work. A core research team comprising WRC researchers and Iain Campbell (RMIT) is examining how and why work has changed and the major issues which policy-makers need to address. The key issues being examined are the expectations and aspirations of workers, the changing content of work and quality of jobs, the shifting balance between work and life and the changing industry and occupational employment structure. The project will produce a booklet, a broadsheet and a conference co-sponsored by the ACTU and The Australian newspaper to stimulate debate about the future of work.

Consultation Strategies

This project involved an evaluation of current consultative arrangements in a large public sector organisation in NSW. The project involved interviews with a range of key informants from management and the unions and then a series of focus groups with employees exploring their experiences with consultation and their views about what can be done to improve the process. As report with specific recommendation on a range of initiatives was presented to the executive in late 2003.

Fitness for Duty

Client: Penrith Lakes Development Corporation

Penrith Lakes Development Corporation retained WRC in May 2002 to develop and implement a comprehensive information and training program on the effects of drugs and alcohol on health and performance. We will also be involved in the development of drug and alcohol policy. This is planned to be the first part of a larger project examining other fitness for duty issues such as fatigue across the site.

Assessment of the effects of fatigue and the appropriateness of current job rotation structures

Client: Port Waratah Coal Services

Port Waratah Coal Services in Newcastle retained WRC in May 2002 to undertake an assessment of the impact of fatigue on work in the reclaimer and ship loader operations. We undertook a detailed assessment of how fatigue affected work in these areas and made recommendations on changes to task duration and job rotation. Contact person for the project is Kathryn Heiler.

Tasmanian Mining Industry Inquiry

Client: Workplace Standards Tasmania

Kathryn Heiler was retained by Workplace Standards Tasmania to conduct the first part of a two-part review into safety in the Tasmanian mining industry. This has involved a comprehensive study of the extended shifts in terms of: the impact on occupational health and safety; the impact on family life; the effectiveness of management of these issues; other factors that might impact on the safe operation of the rosters.

Reserve Bank of Australia Surveys

Client: Reserve Bank of Australia

WRC conducts a quarterly survey of inflationary expectations and anticipated wage bargaining outcomes amongst major Australian trade unions. The survey is conducted in the week immediately following the release of the quarterly inflation data by the ABS. Respondents are asked about their expectations of the level of inflation at various stages over the following 24 months, as well as about wage movements in the economy at large and specifically within their own industry.

Reserve Bank of Australia

Client: Membership Statistics Profiles

WRC has been commissioned by the ACTU and the NSW Labor Council to develop a union membership database and supply commentaries/briefings on trends arising from new ABS figures. Using disaggregated ABS industry and occupational data, membership trends in areas of union strength and weakness - 'heartland', 'midland' & 'low-land' occupations/industries - were analysed for full-time/part-time and male/female employees in large, medium and small workplaces allowing the construction of a 'map' locating the non-unionists. During 2002 the database will be extended by adding public/private sector breakdowns and states which were not included in the 2001 report. A series of briefings on national and state-level membership trends have been conducted during 2001 and 2002.

Generic Skills: How they are understood, practiced and valued by learners, employers and providers.

Client: ANTA (Australian National Training Authority)

A project team comprising researchers from WRC and VEAC (Vocational Education Assessment Centre) and headed by RCVET (Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training) is conducting research into the meanings associated with the concept of 'generic skills' by employers, workers, learners, and training providers. Of prime interest is examining how workplaces use these skills, how they are learnt by workers at present and how formal education and training contributes to them. In addition, the project will examine how the skills required for employment might have changed as new approaches to the organization of work have become common, new technologies have been introduced to workplaces and the focus and culture of workplaces has changed.

High Performance Workplace Case Studies

Client: Industrial Relations Victoria

For some time research on work organisations has indicated that work practices such as a partnership approach to decision-making, employee participation, multi-skilling, job rotation and performance management and development systems can be associated with improved organisational performance and high levels of employee satisfaction. WRC has been engaged by the Effective Organisations Unit of Industrial Relations Victoria to undertake a series of case studies examining these 'high performance work practices based on partnership'. WRC's case studies are based on site visits and detailed interviews with senior managers, middle managers and supervisors, employees and union delegates. The case studies are to be published by Industrial Relations Victoria throughout 2002.

Stop Telling us to Cope: NSW Nurses Explain Why they are Leaving the Profession

Client: NSW Nurses Association

In a report commissioned by the NSW Nurses Association, Dr John Buchanan and Gillian Considine explain how the new hospital management systems, in combination with chronic under-funding, have transformed the nature of nursing work. The current crisis in the NSW health system with attracting and retaining nurses is set to worsen if the obsessive approach to 'cost control' in public hospitals continues.

Research Project - Managing Contractor Safety in the Coal Mining Industry

Client: Joint Coal Board

The Joint Coal Board Health and Safety Trust has commissioned the WRC to conduct research into the management of contractor safety in the coal mining industry. The research will be investigating demonstrated effectiveness of various approaches and will analyse what leads to successful implementation at the site level.

There has been an increase in the use of contracting and sub-contracting arrangements across the industry over the past decade. In mining and other industries it is recognised that the management of contractor safety poses a range of special problems. Mining operations have initiated a variety of programs and systems to manage the safety of contractors on their sites. The research will involve at least six site visits aiming to analyse and document good practices, followed by dissemination of the findings to the industry at large. For further information contact Justine Evesson.

Group Training Schemes

Client: NCVER

The key objective of this NCVER funded research is to gain a better understanding of the nature of group training arrangements. Particular attention will be devoted to understanding the culture of different group training schemes. The research will also identify how these arrangements could evolve in the future and identify ways in which public policy and operational practice at the level of particular Group Training companies could be improved to enhance the training and employment services provided by these organisations.

The Impact of Industry Sector Downsizing on the NSW WORKCOVER Scheme and Outcomes for Injured Workers

Client: WorkCover NSW

WRC is investigating relationships and correlations between the incidence of compensation claims and loss of employment caused by either redundancies (where the organisation remains operational, although with a smaller labour force) or by business closure for WorkCover NSW. The specific outcomes will include a descriptive analysis of downsizing trends in NSW industry over a 5-year period and an analysis of claim data with respect to incidence and characteristics of claims, The final report will also provide an interpretive analysis of the implications of downsizing and business closures for the future management of the Scheme, the welfare of injured workers and the actual and potential impact on employers.

Business Leadership, Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning in the New Business Environment

Client: Australian Business Foundation

WRC has been successful in winning a major grant from the Australian Business Foundation to undertake a study entitled Business Leadership, Knowledge Management and Organisational Learning in the New Business Environment. This exciting new project seeks to investigate the ways in which leading global corporations manage knowledge and information within their organisations and the ways in which their leaders develop and sustain leadership skills. Project Manager Dr Richard Hall commented that "while Knowledge Management is certainly one of the current 'buzzwords' in Australian management relatively little is known about what makes for good knowledge management practice beyond the conventional wisdom that it involves some pretty sophisticated CRM and related IT systems. We suspect that good practice on knowledge is also related to particular leadership styles and particular ways of learning and encouraging learning. One of the challenges for the project is to ascertain the extent to which the practices employed by successful global corporations might be applicable to small and medium sized domestic organisations". The project has just commenced and is due to be completed in the first half of 2002.

Vocational Education and Training Skills and Innovation

Client: NCVER

What contribution do the skills learnt through the Australian vocational education and training system make to the nation's innovative capacity? A project for NCVER being conducted jointly by the Australian Expert Group in Industry Studies from the University of Western Sydney and WRC addresses this question and looks at the inputs provided by employers, TAFE and private providers to the training undertaken by workers employed in 'innovative industries'. The study, entitled Innovation Agents - VET Skills in the Present and Future Australian Innovation System will include an analysis of the data relating to employment and skills in innovative industries and a series of case studies of the skill acquisition and development practices of Australian firms. The Principal Researchers for the project are Professor Jane Marceau and Dr Phil Toner (AEGIS) and Dr Richard Hall (WRC)

Wages and Conditions in the Victorian Police Service

Client: Victorian Police Association

WRC was commissioned by the Police Association, Victoria to conduct a series of research studies examining various dimensions of the working conditions of police in Victoria. The projects being undertaken by WRC cover four distinct areas of inquiry:

1. An Internal Equity Review designed to examine the relative pay, conditions, duties and responsibilities of Victorian police in comparison with other Victorian police.
2. An External Equity Review designed to compare the pay, conditions, duties and responsibilities of Victorian police with those in the comparable jurisdiction of NSW.
3. An Examination of Work Intensification in the Victorian police force that examines the way in which workloads and responsibilities of police have changed over the last five years.
4. An Assessment of the Victorian Police Force's Resource Allocation Criteria and the development of Supervisory Ratios appropriate for the force in Victoria.

Relative Pay and Conditions of Queensland Nurses throughout the 1990s: A Comparative Analysis

Client: Queensland Nurses Union

WRC, University of Sydney was approached by the Queensland Nurses Union in late 2000 to undertake a quantitative analysis of the relative pay and conditions position of Queensland's nurses compared to a number of comparator occupations.

ACARP Fatigue Controls project 2001-2002

Client: ACARP

• Part 1 Investigation of current practices and control measures
• Part 2 Development and trialing of test matrix and indicators (4months)
• Part 3 Development of Control Options (3 months)
• Part 4 Implementation of control options (6 months)
• Part 5 Assessment of controls and modification of risk matrix (2 months)

South Bulga Underground fatigue Assessment

Client: South Bulga Mine

This was a report to the Mine based on Fatigue Modelling and an assessment of rostering arrangements.

VoiceNet

Client: ILO

The SES program is developing a global network - VoiceNet - to generate, collect and analyse information on socio-economic security. It is also compiling evidence on responses from civil society organisations (CSOs) and governments from around the world. This information will be made available to the international academic and policy-making community, trade unions and to employer organisations so that the SES program can improve the statistical representation of work and labour. This undertaking will be carried out in partnership with links, which are being extended and formalised as the process develops.

Union Membership Database

Client: ACTU

This project is to provide commentary to ACTU officials about the significance of the most recent release of ABS statistics of trade union members. Union membership levels have been falling in both absolute and relative terms. ACTU recognised the need for the provision of better information on the subject. The first briefing was prepared to assist the ACTU respond to the latest ABS numbers due for release in late March 2001.

Labour Market Transitions of Youth from Disadvantaged backgrounds

Client: ARC and Smith Family

The project is looking at the labour market transitions of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds. Students from The Smith Family's Learning for Life program will be asked to take part in the research. These students currently receive financial assistance and support to stay on at school and complete Year 12. The research will survey students on this program over the three years of the study. The surveys will seek information from the students regarding their experiences at school, their expectations regarding work and their experiences of work for those who leave school. The project will empirically examine the outcomes of students who participate in programs aimed at improving school retention rates. One of the major aims of this project is to provide evidence on ways of improving the school to adult life transitions of youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Evaluation of Next Step Program

Client: NSW Department of Education and Training

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the NSW Government established Next Step Program. The program is designed to assist displaced workers in the NSW coal mining industry through the provision of a range of vocational and training services. The purpose of the evaluation was to assess the effectiveness of the program's activities and outcomes. WRC, University of Sydney was contracted by Phil Toner Enterprises to assist with an evaluation of the Next Step Program for the NSW Department of Education and Training. This included the design, conduct and collation of results from a phone survey of coal miners who had accessed the Program since its inception in January 1998. The survey was conducted of all miners who had been involved with the Next Step Program since January 1998.

Review of work-family reconciliation in Australia today

Client: Commonwealth Department of Family and Community Services (FACS)

WRC conducted this review as a component of a larger project undertaken by the Social Policy Research Centre at UNSW for FACS. Australia is one of three country case studies whose work-family arrangements are being evaluated by the OECD. Consequently, the Federal Government required comprehensive data and analysis on the state of play with work-family strategies on which to base its report. WRC provided a report that critically appraised how industrial relations and workplace trends were affecting the work-family balance, and how employers and government were responding to the demands from workers for easier work-family reconciliation. The impact of current practices on women and men workers, and on specific groups in the workforce were also explored.

Fifty Families: What unreasonable hours are doing to Australians, their families and their communities

Client: Australian Council of Trade Unions

This joint project with the Centre for Labour Studies, Adelaide University, examined the impact extended hours of work has on workers and their families. 84 in-depth interviews were carried out with workers, and their partners, in 14 diverse industries across Australia. Detailed accounts of people's personal and working lives were complied into a large report, which was part of the ACTU's submission to the Reasonable Hours test case. The report looked at the impact of long working hours on workers' health and well-being, attitudes to their job, intimate relationships, social lives and community participation.

Skills in Victorian Manufacturing

Client: Victorian Learning and Employment Skills Commission (VLESC)

The VLESC commissioned WRC to undertake a major project to examine the contemporary skill requirements in manufacturing. The project determined the extent and nature of the skill and knowledge requirements in a number of key sectors in manufacturing and the causes of any skill gaps, and propose possible strategies to ensure that future skill and knowledge requirements are met. It will also provide key inputs to the development of the Ministerial Statement on Building Knowledge and Skill for the Future. Approximately twenty Victorian worksites in the food, automotive, precision engineering, chemical/rubber/plastics and biotechnology industries were visited by a research team of six, headed by Dr John Buchanan. Other researchers working on the project are Richard Jenkins (Jenkins & Associates), Cassandra Parkinson (Parkinson & Associates), and Justine Evesson, Brigid van Wanrooy and Dr Chris Briggs of WRC.

Report available from the Office of Training and Tertiary Education's (OTTE) web site.

Non Standard Patterns of Work

Client: CPA Australia

CPA Australia, the professional association for Certified Practising Accountants, has commissioned WRC to examine the rise of non-standard work and its implications for accountants providing advice to clients on changing employment structures and practices.

Workcover Memorandum of Understanding evaluation report

Client: Workcover NSW

WRC undertook a project funded by WorkCover to assist in its evaluation of a recent occupation health and safety management initiative in the construction industry. Seventeen major builders signed a memorandum of understanding with government, unions and employer associations to facilitate improvements to their health and safety management systems, in particular, the management of subcontractor safety. The research team was made up of John Buchanan, Justine Evesson and Kathryn Heiler, from WRC. The Workcover Building NSW Safety Report, of which the WRC report is a major component, was launched in November.

Development of Health of the Labour Market Index

Client: CEDA

The Committee for Economic Development of Australia, has commissioned WRC to develop a health of the labour market index and Ian Watson has produced two reports that have been published in the CEDA Bulletin .

The development of a Typology of Australian Workplace Agreements (AWA)

Client: Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA)

The aim of the research, commissioned by the Office of the Employment Advocate, was to discover if AWAs could be grouped into discrete families or classes, based on patterns of similarities in areas covered or not covered by agreements.

Using cluster analysis to inform the typology the analysis revealed two simple agreement types and ten other types of agreement dealing with various combinations of organisational issues such as functional flexibility, change, training consultation, and OH&S.

Extended hours of work amongst full time workers

Client: Victorian Governement

This project, was undertaken for the Victorian Government, and provided insights on how changes in the industrial relations regulatory environment has changed in recent years and an overview of statistics concerning the length and nature of hours of work undertaken by Australian and Victorian workers.

Targeting and improving OHS information dissemination to ethnic groups in NSW

Client: WorkCover NSW

The goal of the research is to assist WorkCover in informing and educating non-English speaking background workers in NSW, who, as a group, are at a comparatively high risk of suffering workplace injury and disease. The project is being conducted collaboratively with the Workers' Health Centre of NSW.

So far, the project has involved the development of an industry and geographic profile of ethnic/language groups at risk of high rates of occupational injury or disease in NSW. Currently underway is qualitative research amongst employees, employers and community leaders on effective methods for communicating with the targeted ethnic groups will be undertaken. This fieldwork will be supplemented with key informant interviews and case studies to produce a recommended strategy that builds on existing good practice models.

Staff Survey 2000

Client: Insearch

The purpose of the survey was to examine employees' opinions and attitudes regarding the organisations climate across a range of key factors. In particular, the survey was to gauge employees' perceptions on a number of issues with specific emphasis on the handling of the recent organisational merger.

Wages Report

Client: CPSU

Discusses general wage developments to place sectors covered by the CPSU in context.

Review of Market based Salary Loadings in the Faculty of Economics and Business

Client: University of Sydney

A Report to assist a review of market-based salary loadings paid to academics within the faculty.

The Future of Work and Vocational Education and Training

Client: BVET

The NSW Board of Vocational Education and Training (BVET) commissioned WRC and the Research Centre for Vocational Education and Training (UTS) to produce a report on the way in which work and skills are linked, how this linkage is likely to change and the options available for policy-makers to shape the linkage between work and skills in the future.

The project advocated moving beyond highly aggregated notions of a 'high-skill' and 'low-skill' economy and developing a new, 'whole-of-government' approach to VET policy. Within any national economy there are a variety of 'skill ecosystems' (ie clusters of high, intermediate and low-level competencies in a particular region or industry) and the challenge for policy-makers is how to combine a diverse range of policy instruments across a wide range of portfolios to manage a diverse bundle of skill eco-systems. The report makes policy recommendations but also advocates reform to integrate initiatives on skill across policy domains. the report is available through BVET .

Working Time

Client: ETU

WRC prepared a briefing paper for the Electrical Trades Union on Working Time issues. As well as drawing from our own research on working time in Australia, in this paper, we examine recent literature on working time initiatives overseas, particularly in Europe.

Victorian IR Survey

Client: Victorian Government IR Task Force

WRC collected information on coverage of workers in Victoria, with a particular focus on workplaces with unregistered agreements and the levels of pay and the conditions of low paid workers. We undertook a two-pronged research strategy (i) a workplace survey to collect coverage information and (ii) an analysis of unpublished Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force survey data on pay and entitlements of workers.

Labour Hire: An Issues Paper

Client: NSW DIR

This paper provided a concise overview of the issue of labour hire, focusing on: (i) The extent of labour hire usage in NSW with information on labour hire workers and labour hire company demographics, and the identification of any current trends. (ii). The issues and problems arising for employees and employers as a result of the increasing use of labour hire companies in New South Wales, especially in relation to lines of responsibility for the management and conduct of labour hire workers and what this means for OH&S, training and security of employment.

Survey of Employers in NSW

Client: NSW DIR

This state wide survey collected information on the industrial coverage and characteristics of workers employed in organisations operating in NSW.

Delivery Operations in E-Retailing

Client: Work Futures

Electronic retailing is a relatively new and rapidly expanding sector of the retail industry. While many organisations and firms have forecast a rapid growth and rosy future for the sector, accurate and systematic data on growth patterns and projections does not exist yet. This paper provides an overview of the sector's development and projections on its future.

Refining a risk management approach to shiftwork: Feedback from the field

Client: NSW Minerals Council

This report explored the feasibility of adopting a risk management approach for managing the hazards and risks associated with shiftwork in the Australian mining industry. A risk management approach where hazards are identified, analysed, assessed, eliminated or controlled is consistent with the generally accepted process for discharging general duty of care obligations which now shape most OHS legislation.

Shiftwork and Fatigue: A comparison of the Wesfarmers Primer Mine Rosters

Client: Wesfarmers

At the request of Wesfarmers' management, this report was prepared to provide feedback on how the Collie Premier Mine rosters compare both in general terms and more specifically with other rostering arrangements in the mining industry. We were also asked to comment on possible points across the roster when fatigue levels may be of concern and suggest strategies.

ABOL Enterprise Bargaining Briefings

Client: Australian Business on Line

WRC provides Australian Business On-Line with a regular enterprise bargaining briefing for their website - Workplace Info.

Labour Hire Advice to the NSW Labor Council

Client: NSW Labor Council

WRC was requested by the NSW Labor Council to provide information for its submission to the NSW Government's inquiry into the use of labour hire in NSW.

Small Mining Industry Projects

Client: Bulga Open Cut Mine and Naroma Mine

WRC was approached to provide an assessment rosters utilising the predictive fatigue modeling software developed by the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia. The reports contain an explanation of how the model works and some important qualifications about its use that must be kept in mind when the assessing the information the model generates. The fatigue output scores for each of the rosters is then presented and then very briefly commented upon.

Working Time Arrangements in Queensland

Client: DETIR, Qld

In October 2000, the then Department of Employment, Training and Industrial Relations, Queensland, commissioned WRC University of Sydney to prepare a report on the current working time arrangements in Queensland and to draw comparisons with national working time arrangements. A number of primary and secondary data sources were used throughout the report to highlight both historical trends and the current situation with regard to the practice and regulation of working time arrangements in Queensland.

Small Mining Industry Projects

Client: Bulga Open Cut Mine and Naroma Mine

WRC was approached to provide an assessment rosters utilising the predictive fatigue modeling software developed by the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia. The reports contain an explanation of how the model works and some important qualifications about its use that must be kept in mind when the assessing the information the model generates. The fatigue output scores for each of the rosters is then presented and then very briefly commented upon.

Weipa Project

Client: Comalco

WRC and the Centre for Sleep Research at the University of South Australia presented a background paper on shiftwork and fatigue.

Responding to Non-Standard Work

Client: AMWU

Next to Spain Australia has the highest level of non-standard work in the OECD. WRC has been commissioned by a large union to provide them with a deeper understanding of this phenomena. This information will inform the development of new responses to a challenge provided by the growing numbers of casuals, contractors and labour hire workers.

Performance Appraisals in Black Coal Mining Industry

Client: CFMEU

Project provides guidance and information to the CFMEU to assist them in developing a strategy for responding to the use of performance appraisals, especially when used in retrenchments. This has become an issue because seniority, the traditional method of selecting for retrenchment is no longer an allowable award matter. Main activities included literature search/review; provision of issues paper; workshopping of issues paper with selected delegates/sites and executive members; final product is a document which incorporates feedback from workshops as well as previous issues papers and lit reviews which can form the basis of a Union response.

Do Workplace Agreements make a difference?

Client: Australian Business Limited - Industry Partner in a SPIRT ARC Grant

In recent years it has become conventional wisdom that decentralised bargaining arrangements deliver superior outcomes. Despite the importance of this issue we know little of why workplaces chose to adopt different forms of agreement. For example, why do some chose individual and other collective agreements? And why do some use formal and other more informal arrangements? We know even less about how different forms of agreement are associated with different outcomes. Do collective agreements deliver superior or inferior results of individual ones? And if so, why?

To help get answers to questions such as these WRC in 1999 commenced a three year study of why different forms of agreement are chosen and what impact they have. The project is being conducted jointly with Australian Business limited and funded as a collaborative exercise by that organisation and the Australian Research Council. The project will involve an analysis of published literature and statistics, surveys of several hundred matched establishments once a year for the next three years as well as the conduct of a limited number of longitudinal case studies.

A case study of the introduction and experience of Australian Workplace Agreements

Client: Office of the Employment Advocate

The Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA) commissioned WRC to undertake a case study of a small company that has introduced Australian Workplace agreements. The case study has concentrated o the motivation for moving from award to AWA coverage , the process of implementing AWA's and the impact these have had on the business and employees. This project was part of a National evaluation of the operation of AWA's undertaken by the OEA.

An Analysis of the News Poll Survey

Client: NSW Labor Council

WRC undertook an analysis of a national household survey on attitudes towards unions that had been commissioned by the NSW Labor Council and undertaken by the polling organisation Newspoll.

Membership Survey

Client: Australian Nurses Federation

This study explores a dimension of the current crisis in the health system that has been neglected to date its impact on the working lives of nurses. It explores two questions in particular:

• how have cost control measures impacted on the nature of nurses' work?
• how have nurses on the job responded to funding shortfalls?

This study has been based on a survey of over 2,000 members of the Victorian Branch of the Australian Nursing Federation.

Design of an Industrial Issues Database

Client: NSW DIR

The DIR commissioned WRC to develop a data base and reporting facility to allow officers to produce statistics and reports on the incidence and outcomes of matters heard by the Industrial Commission of NSW.

Labour Market Deregulation

Client: Department of the Parliamentary Library

This commissioned paper critically reviews the history of labour market deregulation in Australia - its rationale, the policy reforms and effects on the labour market.

Paper on 5 Economists

Client: Parliamentary Library

WRC's Ian Watson and John Buchanan prepared two discussion papers for the Federal Parliamentary Library. One of the papers examined the recent proposal by the 'Five Economists' to freeze award wages in the hope that this might reduce unemployment. The paper assessed the theoretical and empirical basis for this proposal and concludes that much better strategies exist for dealing with unemployment, which do not involve the expansion of a low wage sector in Australia.

General Wage Movements Amongst Australian Public Services: 1992-1999

Client: SPSF Vic Branch

SPSF requested an analysis of wage movements since January 1992, particularly in the public sector and including developments for public sector workers with attention to broadbanding and performance pay. Interest also in economy wide averages.

Background to Labour Hire In Australia

Client: Work Futures

This paper provided an overview of labour hire in Australia.

Focus Groups of Bank Officers

Client: FSU Finance Sector Union (Commonwealth Bank Officers' Section)

A series of Focus groups were conducted to ascertain bank officers views of the union and matters of concern to them at work.

An Exploratory Study of Western Australia s30 Workplace Agreements: Emerging Trends

Client: WA Trades and Labor Council

This study focused on the content trends in a selection of WA s30 Workplace Agreements.

Study of Employee Attitudes

Client: Integral Energy

A study of staff attitudes especially in the context of change and predisposition to change of Integral Energy. Initial focus groups were conducted with employees and management to ascertain key issues and were fed into the development of a self completion survey.

State of the Labour Market in South West Sydney 1996-1999

Client: (confidential)

A report on the state of the labour market in South West Sydney and metropolitan Sydney over the period late 1996 to the present. The report provided (I) a general overview of the labour market conditions prevailing in South West Sydney for the relevant period using metropolitan Sydney as a point of comparison (ii) more detailed analysis of unemployment and employment trends over time for various industry and occupational categories for the South West Sydney region, using metropolitan Sydney as a point of comparison and (iii) an analysis of the employment prospects for job-seekers seeking work in particular occupations and industries in the South West Sydney region.

The demographics of workers who are retrenched or made redundant

Client: Job Futures

WRC prepared a briefing paper on the basic demographics of workers who are retrenched or made redundant. Information included:

• Why people are retrenched;
• Gender of retrenched worker;
• Duration of job from which retrenched;
• Number of retrenched workers by occupation and industry of last job;
• Age of retrenched worker; and
• State of residence of retrenched worker.

Background Paper on Economic Conditions, Employment Trends and Wage Movements of Relevance to the New South Wales Road Transport Industry

Client: Transport Workers Union

This report presented evidence in support of an award claim of the Transport Workers' Union in the New South Wales Industrial Relations Commission. The report was is in two parts. The first presents an overview of general economic conditions in the Australian and New South Wales economies, setting out current and forecast levels of output, profitability, inflation, employment, and wages.

Current Trends In Apprenticeship and Traineeship Training In New South Wales

Client: BVET

Presents preliminary findings from a review of research and data sources relevant to the analysis of trends in apprenticeship and traineeship training in NSW and possible policy responses to improve the rate and quality of such training.

Meeting the Needs of Thin Markets in the Metal and Engineering Industry

Client: MERS ITAB Manufacturing, Engineering and Related Services Industry Training Advisory Body (NSW).

Thin markets in metals and engineering training exist in NSW because of a range of industrial and geographical reasons.

Thin markets can be caused by a paucity of providers, a paucity of employers or trainees/ apprentices seeking training, the variability and variety of training products and their uneven quality, and insufficient information about training quality and training providers.

A Project to Determine the Characteristics of Applicants for Metal and Engineering Apprenticeships and Traineeships

Client: MERS ITAB

Research, development and consultation work on a project to determine the characteristics of applicants for metal and engineering apprenticeships and traineeships.

Summary Of Descriptive Statistics From A Survey Of The Australian Coal And Metalliferous Mining Industry

Client: ILO

This preliminary report provides a basic summary of descriptive statistics from a telephone survey of shift work arrangements in coal and metalliferous mines in Australia. This survey was initially funded by the ILO and supplemented with funding from the NSW and Queensland governments and the OHS Trust of the Joint Coal Board.

Inflation and wages outlook survey

Client: Reserve Bank of Australia

This project involved undertaking a survey of 22 leading unions on their expectations on inflation and wage movements over 6-12 months. The survey will be undertaken quarterly.

Development of a Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) for the NSW public sector

Client: NSW Premiers Dept

WRC is developing a Human Resource Management Information System (HRMIS) for the NSW public sector. This system will allow agencies to meet their annual workforce reporting requirements, such as EEO reports, and also assist them in workforce planning. An important part of trialing the system will involve producing workforce reports for the 1997-1998 period.

Impact of Globalisation on the Emerging Training Market

Client: NCVER

WRC is undertaking a study of the impact of globalisation on the emerging national training market. The study will review relevant literature and be based around detailed studies of key occupational groups in the metals and business service industries in the South West Sydney and Hunter/Central Coast labour markets.

Visual Arts; Professional, Industrial and Legal Issues

Client: ARC SPIRT Grant

WRC (acirrt) together with Terry Smith from the Department of Fine Arts at Sydney University, and David Throsby from Macquarie University and industry Partners National Association of Visual Artists (NAVA), and the NSW Art Gallery and Simpsons Solicitors have been awarded a three year Australian Research Council Strategic Partnership with Industry - Research & Training (SPIRT) grant for a project : The Visual Arts: Professional, Industrial and Legal Issues". This three year study has been completed following the launch of a Code of Practice for the Visual Arts Sector at the National Gallery in Canberra in 2001.