Trend Toward Part-Time/Casual Work Disturbing

Wayne Berry - Opposition Spokesperson on Industrial Relations

Media Statement - 12 August 1999

The trend towards part-time and casual work in the ACT is a disturbing background to the improved unemployment rate in this months ABS Labour Force figures, Labor Industrial Relations spokesperson Wayne Berry said today.

"The figures show a fall of 200 in our unemployed - good news on the face of it," Mr Berry said, "however of the 600 new jobs that show up in the statistics, only 300 are full-time jobs.

"This year only 600 of the 2900 new jobs in the ACT have been full-time jobs - that is 20% of the new jobs. Nationally 57,200 of the 88,900 new jobs created this year have been full-time - that is 64% of the new jobs. This is a disturbing feature of what might otherwise have been described as good news.

"With the revelation that almost 8000 people are underemployed in the ACT these figures add another dimension to the unemployment rate published by the ABS.

"This is a disturbing trend with many households in the ACT having to adjust to a new way of managing with this shift to casual and part-time work and it has negative effects on the way they manage their finances. Without job security families do not have the confidence to make long term financial commitments and this will affect all sectors of the Canberra economy from banks and the housing market to retail spending and the hospitality industry.

"The ACT has traditionally had an unemployment rate lower than the national figure, that gap narrowed in 1995 and 1996 under the policies of Kate Carnell and John Howard. While we seem to be recovering from the 1995-96 period, the trend to part-time and casual work means an underlying problem is being masked.

"Job security is the number one issue for workers in both the public and private sector under the Carnell Liberal Government and the recent figures demonstrate that Kate Carnell is not interested in the issue with the ACT outstripping the national figures in the trend to insecure part-time and casual work," Mr Berry concluded.