Research & Advocacy

Selected public policy research & design, media and advocacy.

Pacific Islands

• Islands of Opportunity: Stepping up to the Pacific’s Energy Challenge.

• Read an explainer here.

• Listen to my interview on Radio National’s Pacific Beat program.

Worker Exploitation & Wage Theft

• Blue Harvest: Wage Theft & Other Labour Infringements in the NSW Blueberry Industry

  • This report was a central pillar of a campaign to reform the poorly designed ‘piece-rates’ payment system in Australian horticulture. 11 months after this report was published, the campaign was ultimately successful, and has been described by the Australian Workers’ Union, which commissioned the research, as its most significant industrial relations victory in its 135 year history. Read more about the successful campaign in the Australian Financial Review.

  • Read more about the original project in the Australian, the ABC, SBS, and 7 News.

  • Listen to coverage of the report on Radio National’s AM program and my interview with Virginia Trioli on ABC Melbourne.

  • Listen to my 7am Podcast appearance explaining the campaign.

• Wage Theft / Economic Distress - The Impact of Wage Theft on Queensland’s Economy and Workers.

  • Read more in The Brisbane Times.

• The Economic Impact of Wage Theft in South Australia

• Read more in the Advertiser here and here.

• Listen to my interview on the Wire, ABC Drive and 5MU.

Jobs & Work

• From Laggard to Leader: Making South Australia the Secure Jobs State

  • Read more in The Advertiser.

• Rethinking Redundancy for the Automation Age

  • Read more in The Australian.

• Opportunities in Change: Responding to the Future of Work

  • Co-launched by NSW Liberal Treasurer Dom Perrottet & Victorian Labor Treasurer Tim Pallas.

    • “This report is an excellent example of the critical thinking needed to explore how governments and industry and organisations can prepare for the future of work.” - Treasurer Tim Pallas.

  • Read more in the Australian Financial Review.

    
    

• The policy architecture driving low wages growth in Australia.

  • Read more in The Guardian.

    
    
    

• Fork in the Road: The impact of the two major parties’ penalty rate policies in the 2019 Federal Election.

  • Read more in The Australian, SBS News.

  • See Federal Opposition Leader Bill Shorten citing the report in the First 2019 Australian Federal Election leaders’ debate here.

    
    

• Impact of the Fair Work Commission's Penalty Rate Cuts

  • Read more in The Sydney Morning Herald.

• An Analysis of the Impact of Penalty Rate Cuts on National Growth Trends  

  • Read more in The Guardian, The Australian, SBS, & listen to my interview for ABC News' Business PM. 

• Guaranteeing Women's Super: How to Close the Gender Gap in Superannuation. 

  • Read more in The Guardian, The Advocate, & The Examiner. 

• Assessing the Impact: The Consequences of Reduced Public Holiday Penalty Rates

  • Read more in The Guardian. 

• Unfair Burden: The Impact of Penalty Rate Reductions on Rural Australia

  • Read more in The Bega District News, The Gladstone Observer, The Illawarra Mercury, the ACTU, the Daily Advertiser, and in this statement by Queensland's Minister of Employment & Industrial Relations.

Economy, Tax & Industry

• The Lithium-Ion Battery Waste Resource Challenge.

• Early Access to Superannuation & Forgone Investment Returns

  • Read more in The Australian.

• Crossing the Fiscal Cliff: Impacts of the JobKeeper Wind Down

  • Read more in the 7 News, The Guardian, the Daily Mail, and News.com.au.

  • Watch coverage of the research on 7 News Adelaide, 7 News Sydney, 7 News Brisbane, and 10 News First Adelaide.

  • Listen to my 2GB interview with Brooke Corte.
    

• A COVID-19 downturn and its impact on workers

  • Read more in the Australian.

• Choosing Opportunity: A Policy Blueprint for a Fairer Australia

  • "This report is both a snapshot of modern Australia and a map for its future’

    • Former Opposition Leader Bill Shorten MP.

  • Read more in The Guardian, and my speech here.

• The Social Benefits of Economic Ties: The Scope for an Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement (Co-produced with leading UK Think Tank DEMOS)

  • "This report is a timely contribution exploring what a future free trade agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom might look like and what is needed to combat the rise in protectionism and scepticism about free trade.” - Shadow Trade Minister of Australia, Jason Clare. 

  • Read more in The Guardian, in CANZUK International, and at DEMOS

• Trading in Confidence: Improving Australia's Anti-Dumping Framework

  • Read more in ABC News.

• Even Growth: Planning for a Growing Sydney

  • Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald.

• High Risk, Low Reward: The Challenges of Deregulating South Australia's Trading Hours

  • Read more here.

• The Cost of Inaction: The impact of wholesale gas prices on household power bills. 

  • Read more in the Sydney Morning Herald, The Daily Mail and The Guardian.

  • Read my explainer here.
    

• How Government investment in housing can boost the economy (collaboration with PwC Australia).

  • Read more in the The Guardian.

• A COVID-19 tax rebate for frontline workers.

• Re-opening NSW: Findings from McKell Institute’s ‘Reopening NSW Digital Roundtable’.

Initiatives

• Bridging Queensland’s Digital Divide.

  • Sponsored by Telstra, co-authored with Queensland Council of Social Services.

  • See more in The Brisbane Times.

• The Missing Link: How Pharmacies Can Accelerate Ausralia’s Vaccine Roll-out

  • See more on Channel 9’s The Today Show.

• Getting Melbourne Moving: 22 Ideas to Keep Victorians in the Fast Lane

  • Read more in The Age.

• OCHRE Literature Review and Case Study

  • Commissioned by the Government of New South Wales.

• Two Birds, One Stone: Harnessing Community Assets to Improve Transport Connectivity in New South Wales

  • Read more in The Daily Telegraph & coverage on 9 News Sydney.

Submissions to Government

• Submission to the Queensland Parliament’s inquiry into trading hours, 2021.

• Submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Fair Work Amendment Act 2020 (i.e., IR Omnibus Bill).

  • Read more in The Advertiser.

• Submission to the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Committee on the EFIC Reform Bill, 2019.

• Submission to the South Australia Parliament’s Select Committee Inquiry on Wage Theft in South Australia. February 2019.

• Submission to the Australian Energy Regulator on Evoenergy Regulatory Determination, 2019-2024. January 2019.

• Submission to the Australian Energy Regulator on Ausgrid Regulatory Determination, 2019-2024. February 2019.

  
  

• Submission into the NSW Government Review into the Apprenticeships & Traineeships Act, 2001. July 2016.

   

• Submission into the Senate Inquiry into the Economic Security of Women in Retirement. November 2015.