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The 4th Path to Full Employment Conference/9th National Conference on Unemployment - December 4-6, 2002

The Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE) at The University of Newcastle combined its annual Path to Full Employment Conference with the 9th National Conference on Unemployment, a combination that has endured since that time. The venue was the University Union, Newcastle.

CofFEE aims to foster high quality research and policy analysis that focuses on the creation and maintenance of full employment and equity in Australia. CofFEE sees that the failure to reduce unemployment is above all a failure of political will. Full employment can be achieved through direct government action and is the most pressing problem facing the world economy.

In September 2002, the Australian unemployment rate was 6.2 percent. Across Australia, 629 thousand Australians were without work. CofFEE estimates that an additional 125 thousand people suffered from hidden unemployment at the time. There were 140 thousand people who had been unemployed for more than 12 months. The average duration of unemployment was 46.9 weeks. The 15-19 year old unemployment rate stood at 16.1 percent. To be counted among the employed you only have to work 1 hour per week and a majority of new jobs created were part-time/casual. They are often low-paid and insecure. CofFEE's research showed that the rate of underemployment was increasing as more people were being forced to work part-time yet desired more hours. Regional unemployment was also a problem in Australia. As an example, unemployment rates in September 2002 varied from 4 percent in ACT and the NT to 9.3 percent in Tasmania. There is also clear evidence that economic inequality in Australia is increasing.

Meanwhile the government continues to pursue a budget surplus as an act of virtuousity. They continue to adhere to the view that unemployment is a consequence of the personal characteristics of those who are without jobs. It is clear that the Australian economy does not create enough work for all those who desire it. Not only is the number of jobs important but also the desired number of hours. Australia is short on both accounts. The substantial reductions in public sector employment over the last decade have exacerbated this problem. CofFEE estimates indicate that if public sector employment had matched the labour force growth rate over the period 1970 to 1999, there would be an unemployment rate of approximately 1.7 per cent.

CofFEE advocates a return to full employment. Full employment can be made consistent with environmental sustainability. Full employment requires a renewed commitment by the public sector to public job creation. The private sector will never create enough working hours to absorb the growing labour force. CofFEE advocates the introduction of a Job Guarantee as a means to achieve full employment. The 4th Path to Full Employment Conference/9th National Conference on Unemployment addressed these and other issues.

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