New survey illuminates pay issues of young Australian workers

Melbourne School of Government and Melbourne Law School have launched the National Young Workers Survey to provide much-needed data on the pay issues young people experience at work.

The survey focuses on young Australians’ (18-30 years old) experiences of work and pay, and will provide valuable data to help inform policy, digital tools, and other support services for young people experiencing issues at work.

Project lead Professor John Howe says the survey seeks to address a significant lack of accessible data that currently exists to inform policy.

“With the National Young Workers Survey, the University of Melbourne is filling the information gap and committing to share the data with government agencies, not-for-profits and the whole community to inform advocacy, policy and initiatives that will support young people to seek fair pay. Good data is key to helping the public understand young people’s risk of underpayment and to prevent it from happening in the future.”

The survey builds on the School of Government’s A Fair Day’s Work project, which aims to support young people at risk of underpayment, while also providing data for regulators, policymakers and businesses to drive system change.

The National Young Workers Survey is available in several languages so participants are able to complete it in their preferred language. The survey will be open for several weeks until late June.

Find out more about the survey on the School of Government’s website.