Detailed Analysis: Unemployment, Causes, and Policies in Australia

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of unemployment in Australia, examining its causes, measurement, and potential policy solutions. It identifies changing production patterns, technological adaptation, and low demand for labor as key factors contributing to rising unemployment rates. The essay also discusses the different types of underemployment, including visible and invisible underemployment, and highlights structural unemployment as a major issue, particularly among the youth. Furthermore, it explores the variance of unemployment levels across Australian states and emphasizes the need for government intervention through nationalized curriculum, vocational training, and anti-discriminatory laws. The essay concludes by advocating for increased economic growth, job placement centers, and policies that promote fair wages and equal opportunities to reduce unemployment and empower the Australian workforce. Desklib offers a wealth of similar resources for students seeking academic support.

Unemployment in Australia 1
Economics Assignment
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Unemployment in Australia 2
Unemployment Reasons
Undeniably, unemployment is a scourge in various economies and the Australian
context is no exception. The unemployment patterns in the Australian economy are rising due to
changing production patterns being experienced in the country, the unemployment levels have
risen too .In addition, there is the technological adaptation in the various production sectors of
the economy which has rendered some workers unemployed due to the lack of the required skill
set to fit in with the technological advances (Economy Watch 2010).Alongside changing
production pattern and technologies, the Australian economy unemployment rate is due to the
low demand for labor following the harsh business cycles within which the Australian
entrepreneurs are battling. The low demand for labor has contributed to the slow pace of hiring
labor services by entrepreneurs (Reserve bank of Australia 2013).Currently, Australian business
have been facing tough cyclical business cycles due to the low economic growth and investment
rates. In addition, the stagnation in the wage growth level of the Australian minimum wage is not
considered an incentive for the unemployed to seek employment opportunities thus the increased
rate of unemployment (Sloan 2018).Typically, an increase in wage growth is likely to trigger
more employment opportunities as the reverse is true.
Underemployment
Predominantly, there are two types of under-employment. Namely, visible and invisible
underemployment (Amadeo 2018).Essentially, underemployment represents the state of working
for less hours as compared to the normal working hours for that particular work. Typically,
underemployment is part-time employment whereby employees are allocated a few hours to
work in a particular field of work whereas full time employment is inclusive of more working
hours. Basically visible under-employment entails working for fewer hours than usual whereas

Unemployment in Australia 3
invisible unemployment denotes the state of inadequate income. According to recent statistics by
the Australian bureau of Statistics, the male Australian population have been experiencing
visible unemployment. Specifically, the Australian male population has been working for an
average of one hundred and fifty-five hours weekly (Murphy 2018).This is a typical case of
under-employment which requires government intervention to create more full-time employment
opportunities. Primarily, invisible unemployment happens within the income of employed
persons. The detection of invisible underemployment isn’t easy. Through invisible
unemployment, the income of employed workers is inadequate in sustaining their basic needs.
The fact there is low wage growth in the Australian economy might be indications of invisible
unemployment trends in the country though not conclusive proof.
Unemployment Causes in Australia
Noteworthy, structural unemployment is among the major types of unemployment in the
Australian economy. Basically, this type of unemployment is due to the lack of relevant skills for
the current employment opportunities thus causing unemployment (Burgess 2017).Among the
Australian population being structurally unemployed is the youthful Australian population .Due
to their lack of adequate and relevant skills and expertise, most of the Australian youths are
unemployed. It is imperative that the Australian government introduce training
opportunities ,nationalized curriculum tuned to the current market needs so as to adequately
prepare the Australian youths for the labor market after finishing schooling. Also, the preference
for migrant labor patterns over indigenous labor has left most of the Australian population
unemployed .The preference of migrant over indigenous labor is due to the cheaper wages for
migrant based labor (Koukoulas 2017).It is imperative that the Australian government regulate
the influx of migrants into the labor market to avoid creating pressure on existing jobs and

Unemployment in Australia 4
unemployment of indigenous labor force (Rafi 2017).There ought to be a balance between
migrant and indigenous labor participation in the Australian economy to reduce the overall
unemployment rate and to ensure that Australian indigenous population is economically
empowered through employment opportunities and friendly wages to afford basic needs for their
respective households.
How Unemployment is measured in the Australian economy.
Notably, the Australian economy measure and definition of unemployed persons is the
same as the global definition. Basically, to be unemployed in Australia requires the fulfillment of
three conditions. Essentially person is unemployed if they were actively seeking to be employed
for a week with no success and would have been willing to be employed in the even that the
employment opportunity had availed itself(Economy watch 2010).Predominantly, the mandate to
measure unemployment trends in the Australian industry falls on the Australian bureau of
Statistics. The importance of measuring unemployment lies in the fact that the Australian
government requires such statistics for national planning and welfare resource allocation among
other uses. Majorly, the unemployment statistic show persons who are actively looking for
employment opportunities but are unable to access employment opportunities within the
Australian economy. Majorly, the Australian unemployment index considers persons who are
over the ages of fifteen years old and are actively looking for employment opportunities but are
yet to get them as unemployed. Majorly, the Australian unemployment covers the youth, aging
person’s unemployment, underemployment and overemployment among other forms of
unemployment. Mainly, unemployment is calculated based on hours (Reserve bank of Australia
2013).

Unemployment in Australia 5
Variance of Unemployment levels Across the Australian states
Notably, there has been a variance in the unemployment levels among the Australian
states. Particularly, the Australian state of Western Australia recorded the highest unemployment
rate in March 2017 as illustrated in the graph below (Cassells & Coelli 2017).The high level of
unemployment in Western Australia might be due to the decline in the mining industry.
Following the boom in the mining industry, the level of unemployment has gone down as
compared to the other states. With the mining industry facing decline in investment, the
unemployment rates in the state has risen. Additionally, the overall unemployment rates in all the
Australian rates were partly contributed by the global economic crisis (Financial crisis) of the
year 2007-09.Additionally,the increased demand for labor in the northern Australian territories
has contributed to the low unemployment rates in the states as contrasted with the Western
Australian unemployment statistics for the year 2014 and 2015 .However as at January
2017,according to ABC news published on 23 January, the Northern territory unemployment rate
has increased owing to the low consumption of commodities and services in the region. Despite
the fact that all the states were affected by global events such as the financial crisis, the different
states handled the recovery process differently due to the implemented demand and supply side
policies implemented by the respective Australian states.

Unemployment in Australia 6
Cassells & Coelli 2017
Policies to reduce unemployment
Remarkably, the Australian government has made steps towards reducing the rising
unemployment trends in the country. However, much needs to be done. Particularly, to reduce
the alarming rate of youth unemployment, the Australian government can implement a national
curriculum which is labor market oriented at the schooling level. Also, there should be creation
of more fulltime jobs in the country so as to reduce underemployment among the youth and the
male Australian population who are currently facing the challenge of unemployment (Smith
2017).Additionally, there should be implementation of mandatory vocational training for the
currently employed persons so that they can be able to maintain their employment due to the
relevancy of their skills. Remarkably, Britain has been able to effectively reduce its
unemployment rate through the implementation of the work program which entails an early
retirement package for the elderly working population and regular vocational training for the
youthful population (Dolado 2015).This policy has been able to drastically reduce the British

Unemployment in Australia 7
unemployment scourge. In addressing long –term unemployment in the Australian context, the
government could implement proper working policies such as safe working conditions and anti-
discriminatory workplace laws for the maturing and youthful population so as to reduce the
respective unemployment rates. Usually, the aging population are discriminated against by virtue
of age related complications such as speed.
How can the government decrease unemployment in your country
of birth
Noteworthy, the Australian economic growth rate needs to grow fast and steadily so as to
create more employment opportunities and promote private and public investment into the
Australian economy (Borland 2017).Usually, economic growth increases the level of economic
activity such as production of commodities and services which are the avenue for employment
opportunities. The current Australian recessive economy is not supporting of more employment
opportunities due to the high cost of production, low commodity prices and slow wage growth
which discourage the unemployed from actively seeking employment opportunities .In addition,
it is imperative that the Australian government develop and advance job placement centers to
reduce frictional unemployment which is due to the time transition from one job to the
other .Moreover, the implementation of vocational training and education curriculum based on
the market trends might help boost up the employment chances of the currently employed to
sharpen their work skills and to prepare the young for the labor market while in schools thus
reducing the number of unemployment in the country(Biddle et.al 2016).Notably, the indigenous
Australian population contributes to the highest portion of the unemployed persons in the

Unemployment in Australia 8
country. This trend can be attributed to limited educational knowledge and discrimination at the
workplace.
It is imperative that the Australian government implement anti-discriminatory laws against
the indigenous population and the aging population to reduce the rate of unemployment.

Unemployment in Australia 9
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