Regulating for job security in Australian universities

Australian universities are increasingly being subjected to public criticism for their treatment of precarious academic teachers. The criticism encompasses both the sector’s overreliance on casual (contingent) workers to perform core teaching work and the widespread underpayment of these workers. A key campaign promise of the Labor party ahead of the 2022 federal election was to improve job security. After coming to power, the Albanese Labor government implemented successive legislative reforms that were designed to provide workers in precarious roles with improved security of employment. This article examines the recent round of Australian university enterprise agreements to assess how the sector has responded to these specific reforms and to the broader societal imperative to ensure that the core teaching function in universities is provided by academics in secure employment. The article finds that significant progress has been made across the sector to address the dimensions of precarity that have been experienced by casual academic teachers. However, some aspects of the new employment arrangements for these workers remain inferior to those that are enjoyed by staff in traditional teaching and research roles. The article concludes by providing recommendations for future reforms.