Last week the Australian Financial Review (AFR) caused a bit of a political stink by reporting that:
“….Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the share of casual employment was 22.8 per cent in February – 1.3 percentage points lower than in February 2020, just before the pandemic hit the economy.
AFR, April 12 2022 – Albanese’s casual jobs claim is ‘wrong’, according to ABS data
The casualisation rate is 4.8 percentage points below the peak of 27.6 per cent in 2003.”
The figures seem accurate but do not tell the whole story. How are employment statistics relevant to occupational health and safety (OHS)? Job insecurity is a significant factor in work-related mental health.