RMIT experts are available for comment ahead of the Australian Government’s economic update

Dr Leonora Risse (0401 360 733 or leonora.risse@rmit.edu.au) 

Topics: Gender equality, jobs, COVID recession

“Previous recessions hit male-dominated industries such as building and manufacturing, but this COVID recession in 2020 is impacting differently. 

“While latest Australian Bureau of Statistics show women are losing their jobs in higher numbers, government policy is out of step by propping up jobs in male-dominated industries, such as construction and trades. 

“We are seeing greatest losses in hospitality and retailing, industries that are huge employers of women. And we are especially seeing large job losses among part-time workers, who are predominately women.

“We need the government to expand its cost-benefit ledger and give deeper consideration to the value of investing in social infrastructure such as mental health, crisis support, childcare, aged care, community services and digital connectivity.

“If the government wants to prop up jobs in building and trades, a more productive stimulus policy would be to support hard-hit businesses in hospitality and retailing to innovate and adapt their premises to become COVID-safe, as this would also strengthen job security for women.

“This is not just a gender equity issue. It's what Australia needs for the best possible chance of a full economic recovery.”

Dr Leonora Risse is a Lecturer in Economics at RMIT University, and a Research Fellow with the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard University. She serves as the National Chair of the Women in Economics Network. Her research specialises on gender differentials in the workforce, the influence of social norms and psychological factors on economic outcomes, disadvantage, inequality and wellbeing. 

SMEs

Professor Kosmas Smyrnios (0406 620 359 or kosmas.smyrnios@rmit.edu.au)

Topics: family business survival, microfinance, resilience, microenterprises COVID-19 has delivered many risks to business.

“COVID-19 has delivered many risks to business.

"A substantial number of small to medium businesses have failed or are on life support.

"But there are opportunities waiting to be exploited at a community level.

"Providing small to medium-sized enterprises with access to Federal Government-guaranteed loans worth up to $1 million under a plan to drive investment should help deliver support to not only employers, but also individuals and families.

"However, now is the time for the Federal Government to add to its armament to drive economic growth and stimulate employment.

"At a local level, provision of micro loans and associated support in the form of training programs for the creation of new ventures is one of the best ways to stimulate innovation and manage unemployment.

"Although not everyone is a nascent entrepreneur, incentive schemes that encourage people to be independent financially can lead to many community and personal benefits, helping to reduce the likelihood of medium-to-long term dependency on government handouts.

“Perhaps it is now time for the establishment of a Federal Government New Venture Creation scheme that fosters an Australian spirit of the go-getter.”

Kosmas Smyrnios is Professor of Family Business Entrepreneurship in the School of Management at RMIT University. He has consulted for multinational corporations including AXA, the Commonwealth Bank, and PWC and is frequently called upon to provide expert media commentary. 

Emeritus Professor David Hayward (0416 174 833 or david.hayward@rmit.edu.au)

Topics:  Victorian economy, social service sector, social policy, employment

“The Federal Government’s budget update is a wonderful opportunity to bring various loose policy threads together: yes, we need to see Job Seeker and Job Keeper extended. But we need to see higher levels of accountability and long-term planning.

“Income payments should be linked to a more carefully crafted invitation to undertake education and training.

“Tertiary education providers should be thinking about how they might better tailor their services to just-in-time skills.  

“All this needs to be tied to a broader industry strategy that targets a growing, better paid and educated care workforce in rapidly growing areas like aged care, disability, child care, family violence, social housing, and mental health: the jobs of tomorrow, not yesterday.”

Emeritus Professor David Hayward is an economist and was, until recently, the Director of the Victorian Council of Social Service RMIT Future Social Service Institute. Before that, he was the Dean of RMIT’s School of Global, Urban and Social Studies for seven years. He has undertaken extensive research around the funding of social services and social policy and is a regular media commentator on budgets and politics.

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