General ASU News

The ASU pays tribute to Michael O'Sullivan for the honour of this posthumous award. Michael was National Executive President of the ASU when he left in 2004 after a long and distinguished career with our Union, although we maintained close ties fighting for better superannuation for workers. Our Vale to…

Australian Unions are today launching a campaign which highlights the increasing pressures many workers face from the demands of business, which are impacting their lives outside of work. Under the banner Australian Unions. Join. For a better life. unions will be highlighting the role that unions continue to play standing…

ACTU President Ged Kearney will today call for closer engagement between unions and business over the economic challenges facing Australia, and for the business lobby to overcome its opposition to reforms in the national interest. Speaking at a symposium on The Accord 30 Years On in Sydney this afternoon, Ms…

The Centre for Policy Development's public service Research Director Christopher Stone contends that sometimes cutting can cost more than it saves. Shifting responsibility to the private sector is not a cost-effective strategy when the public sector is better placed to provide essential services. While efficiency is defined in terms of…

THE Government will invest $1 billion boosting innovation, productivity and competitiveness through its Plan for Australian Jobs, including $500 million to establish 10 Industry Innovation Precincts, and $378 million to stimulate venture capital. Projects worth more than $500 million must include an Australian Industry Participation Plan, and there will be…

If you support better funding for Australian schools, give a Gonski on Saturday, the 25th of May. The Gonski Review made it clear that we must urgently invest in education and public schools. The Prime Minister has put $9.4 billion on the table to make the Gonski reforms a reality…

A message from ACTU Secretary Dave Oliver I've been a union member all my working life. The union movement I believe in is one that fights every day for fairness and which puts its members' interests first. Recent allegations against a few individuals, the most prominent being Craig Thomson and…

It is often argued that reductions in the corporate tax rate are necessary to create employment, increase investment and deliver a range of other benefits to the Australian community. However, despite the widespread support for this view, particularly among the business community, the theoretical and empirical case for such an…

2013 is going to be a really important year in education with the future funding of all schools due to be decided in the next few months. The Federal Government and the State and Territory Governments are negotiating over the recommendations of a major inquiry called the Gonski Review which…

While Australia's 'big four' banks claim to be fiercely competitive a new analysis by The Australia Institute shows that in fact over 53 per cent of each bank is owned by the same small number of institutional shareholders. The rise and rise of the big banks by Senior Research Fellow…