This will be the first of a series of interactive events to collect your and other Fabians' thoughts on three issues identified by our members as so important that they are "keeping them awake at night". Each event will be introduced by a prominent politician and/or expert in the field.
These ideas will be collected together as a series of "Letters to Labor" to help inform the policy agenda. Copies will be forwarded to the Labor leader, the relevant Labor Shadow Minister, and to the appropriate ALP Policy Committee.
In this first event of the series we will be discussing job insecurity and the precariousness of work. We will be joined by Charles Brass, CEO of the Future of Work Foundation:
- How has the world of work has changed in our lifetimes?
- Why have these changes taken place?
- What are the forces driving future work patterns and structures?
- What do we expect our work patterns and structures to be like in the future?
ABC fact check has affirmed Bill Shorten's recent claims on the issue, see 'Bill Shorten says a million Australians are doing two jobs and a million are underemployed. Is he correct?'
What does the future hold in terms of blue collar job opportunities: renewables/utilities, innovative agriculture, secure food production, 3D print manufacturing? What needs to be our focus in skills development? How do we address poverty line factors and ensure minimum living standards? Do we require job guarantee initiatives to underwrite flexible labour movements? What about unemployment benefits and safety nets? How do we effectively address productivity and flexible work requirements?
Come and join in the discussion, focusing on the changing nature of future work and the search for creative responses.
Each event will finish with a request to the audience for 5 or 6 people to form a team to help write up the results as a submission.
