The Conference will focus on the consequences of unemployment in advanced monetary economies from a broad perspective.

The official program will commence at 10.00 on Wednesday, December 10, 2003 at the Brennan Room, which is located in the Shortland Union Building at the West Campus of the University of Newcastle. Registration begins at 9.00 am at the same location.

You can download the program in pdf or word:

• PDF version - 42kb
• Word version -95kb

Macroeconomic policy and full employment.
Spatial and sectoral unemployment.
Policy responses and solutions.
Underutilisation of labour resources and measuring unemployment.
Welfare and social policy

The listing also indicates whether the paper is in the Refereed volume of Conference Proceedings, is in the non-refereed volume or was not available to the organisers.

Wednesday, December 10, 2003

Papers are organised by half hour with 20 minutes for each presentation plus 10 minutes following each paper for questions and discussion.

9.00-9.50	Registration - Brennan Room in the Shortland Union Building with tea/coffee available.
9.50-10.00	Official Welcome from Professor Bill Mitchell, Director of the Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE), University of Newcastle.
Session 1:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Ellen Carlson	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Victor Quirk
10.00-10.30	Developing a policy tool to support the Youth Employment Program Lise Windsor, Dept. of Further Education, Employment, Science and Technology, South Australia. Abstract Non-Refereed	Two feasible future scenarios: a high-tech utopia -- and a high-tech dystopia Trond Andresen, University of Science and Technology, Norway. Abstract Refereed
10.30-11.00	Employment changes and job openings for new entrants in nursing and caring occupations in Australia Chandra Shah and Michael Long, Centre for the Economics of Education and Training, Monash University Abstract Non-Refereed	Hardt and Negri's Empire as a prospective guide for political intervention James Juniper, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed
11.00-11.30	Morning Tea - Brennan Room
Session 2:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Tom van Veen	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Jim Jose
11.30-12.00	Labour market deregulation and the orientation of macroeconomic policy Greg Smith, University of New England Abstract Refereed	The economics of unemployment and health: a review Janet Dzator, University of Newcastle. Abstract Non-Refereed
12.00-12.30	Misrepresentation and fudge - the OECD NAIRU consensus William Mitchell and Joan Muysken, CofFEE, University of Newcastle and CofFEE-Europe, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Abstract Refereed	Community Partnerships towards Full Employment Julie Mayer, Wesley Mission, Brisbane. Abstract Non-Refereed
12.30-13.30	Lunch - Brennan Room
Session 3:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Martin Watts	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Graham Wrightson
13.30-14.00	Indigenous labour force status in perspective, 1971-2001 Jon Altman and Boyd Hunter, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University. Abstract Not available	An experiential discussion of barriers to employment, long-term unemployment effects and exploration of innovative services Brooklyn Storme and Rebecca Sullivan, Brotherhood of St Laurence. Abstract Refereed
14.00-14.30	The indigenous job zone: towards solutions for indigenous unemployment Peter Botsman, Consultant, Australian Prospect Abstract Not available	Welfare reform: regulating low wage labour markets Sally Cowling, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Not available
14.30-15.00	The effects on unemployment of immigration of unskilled workers John Nevile and Peter Kriesler, University of New South Wales. Abstract Not available	Workfare as welfare: governing unemployment in the advanced liberal state Catherine McDonald and Greg Marston, University of Queensland and Centre for Applied Social Research, RMIT University. Abstract Non-Refereed
15.00-15.30	Afternoon Tea - Brennan Room
Session 4: 15.30-16.30	Plenary address Room: Brennan Room Chair: Bill Mitchell Understanding economic growth and employment in the US Professor Barry Bluestone, Russell B. and Andr�e B. Stearns Trustee Professor of Political Economy and Director, Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Abstract Refereed This presentation considers what is responsible for the trends in growth and employment in the U.S. during the second half of the 1990s and in the period after February 2001. It is argued that the "conventional wisdom" about the causes of the 1990s boom is fundamentally wrong and that the policy prescriptions that follow from it should be avoided. In place of the conventional wisdom, termed the Wall Street Model, an alternative theory to explain recent economic growth and a corresponding set of public policies to sustain economic growth with greater social equity, termed the Main Street Model is presented.
16.30	End of Day 1 Sessions

Thursday, December 11, 2003

Session 5:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Graham Wrightson	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: James Juniper
10.00-10.30	Alternative welfare models and their impact on labour market integration and social exclusion: the EU experience Gudrun Biffl, Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), Austria. Abstract Refereed	An analysis of unemployment David Alonso-Love, Young Christian Workers Movement. Abstract Non-Refereed
10.30-11.00	One market, one money and one employment policy? The European debate on the appropriate employment policy Tom van Veen, CofFEE-Europe, University of Maastricht, The Netherlands. Abstract Non-Refereed	The problem of a full employment economy Victor Quirk, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed
11.00-11.30	Morning Tea - Brennan Room
Session 6: 11.30-12.30	Plenary address Room: Brennan Room Chair: Bill Mitchell The whereto for work, welfare and wellbeing The Rev Tim Costello, Director Urban Seed and Minister, Collins St. Baptist Church, Melbourne. Abstract Abstract available - Refereed volume What has happened to work? How are the work-less coping? What is essentially at stake for our social and personal wellbeing when the gap between the haves and have-nots continues to grow? This presentation will explore these themes from his observations as a social commentator and the work he oversees with Urban Seed, a not-for -profit organisation working with marginalised people in the heart of Melbourne.
12.30-13.30	Lunch - Brennan Room
Session 7:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: John Nevile	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Ellen Carlson
13.30-14.00	From the basic wage to basic income: work, unemployment and justice John Tomlinson, Queensland University of Technology. Abstract Refereed	Healing the divisions: unemployment and overwork in Australia Sara Hammer, Griffith University. Abstract Non-Refereed
14.00-14.30	Unemployment welfare: the underpinning ethics justifying Australia's enforced categorical Mutual Obligation system compared with those for a basic income Simon Schooneveldt, Centre for Social Change Research, Queensland University of Technology. Abstract Refereed	Hidden unemployment and older male workers Martin O'Brien, University of Wollongong. Abstract Non-Refereed
14.30-15.00	In defence of the Job Guarantee William Mitchell and Martin Watts, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed	Underemployment in Australia: evidence from the HILDA survey Roger Wilkins, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, University of Melbourne. Abstract Non-Refereed
15.00-15.30	Afternoon Tea - Brennan Room
Session 8: 15.30-16.30	Room: Brennan Room Chair: Bill Mitchell Special Panel session - Employment Policy Professor Barry Bluestone, Director Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA The Rev Tim Costello, Director Urban Seed and Minister, Collins St. Baptist Church, Melbourne Peter Botsman, Consultant, Australian Prospect
16.30-18.30	End of Day 2 Sessions - Delegates have free-time before the dinner. Drinks can be purchased at the Godfrey Tanner Bar, next to the Conference venue and the dinner venue on campus in advance of the dinner which commences at 18.30.
16.30-17.00	Business Meeting in Treehouse - a short meeting of interested parties will be held to consider the organisation of the National Unemployment Conference in the coming years. Anyone who wishes to have a stake in this should attend.
18.30 for 19.00	Conference Dinner - McLarty Room, Shortland Union. The dinner is included in the conference registration fee.

Friday, December 12, 2003

Session 9: 9.30-10.30	Plenary address Room: Brennan Room Chair: Bill Mitchell The Intergenerational Report - myths and solutions Warren Mosler, Principal, III Offshore Advisors, St. Croix, USA. Abstract Refereed This paper challenges the conventional view espoused in the 2002 Australian Treasury Intergenerational Report that the ageing population will place unsustainable demands on the Federal budget. The paper explains how the budget is calculated, the role of net spending in the macroeconomy and why debt is issued. It demonstrates that any compositional changes in spending pose political choices rather than economic burdens. It concludes that by ensuring full employment is achieved now, the Government provides the best path to guaranteeing an effective health care system in the future.
10.30-11.00	Morning Tea - Brennan Room
Session 10:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Peter Kriesler	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Julie Lee
11.00-11.30	Regional development politics along Australia's eastern seaboard Phillip O'Neill and Pauline McGuirk, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed	Macroeconomics Jim Cowling. Abstract Non-Refereed
11.30-12.00	Why do disparities in employment growth across metropolitan and regional space occur? William Mitchell and Ellen Carlson, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed	The role of the state in the neo-liberal project John Falzon, St Vincent de Paul Society. Abstract Not available
12.00-12.30	Regional hidden unemployment disparity and persistence in Australia Frank Agbola, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed	Revisioning the logic of industrialisation: contesting the common sense of our time Jim Jose, CofFEE, University of Newcastle. Abstract Refereed
12.30-13.30	Lunch - Brennan Room
Session 11:	Parallel Session A - Brennan Room Chair: Frank Agbola	Parallel Session B - Treehouse Chair: Graham Wrightson
13.30-14.00	Measures of labour underutilisation Harry Kroon and Rhonda de Vos, Australian Bureau of Statistics. Abstract Non-Refereed	Happiness, life satisfaction and the role of work: evidence from two Australian surveys Alfred Michael Dockery, Curtin Business School. Abstract Refereed
14.00-14.30	Average duration of unemployment - issues and a possible gross flows based complementary measure Peter Boal, Federal Dept of Employment and Workplace Relations. Abstract Non-Refereed	How many jobs were lost with the collapse of Ansett? Abbas Valadkhani, Queensland University of Technology. Abstract Refereed
14.30-15.00	Afternoon Tea - Lambert Lounge
Session 12 15.00-16.00	Open Forum Treehouse Chair: Bill Mitchell The final session will comprise a panel who will sum up themes presented at the Conference followed by an open forum where all conference participants can express their viewpoints.
16.00	Conference Close

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