Sarah’s
Publications
Equitable Housing
April 9, 2025

Submission to the Inquiry into the Redevelopment of Melbourne’s Public Housing Towers
Per Capita joins many others in questioning the lack of transparency around the costs associated with retrofit or knock-down and rebuild of public housing towers in Melbourne. We also question the rationale that underpins the decision-making process.
Responsible Technology
October 11, 2024

Privacy and Other Legislation Amendment
We support the passage of this legislation, however, in this submission we make some recommendations for amendments.
Gender Equality
October 9, 2024

Submission to the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers Inquiry
The historical undervaluation of work primarily done by women remains a key driver of this gap and the entrenched inequalities in the labour market today.
Uncategorised
September 9, 2024

The Way In: Representation in the 47th Australian Parliament
By exploring representation broadly through different demographic lenses, Per Capita’s parliamentary analysis series, The Way In, seeks to understand the paths to political power in Australia’s Federal Parliament.
Post Carbon Economy
September 4, 2024

Charged Up: Strategies for Addressing the Skill Shortage in Electrical Trades for the Clean Energy Transition
The Federal Government’s ambitious plan to transform Australia into a Renewable Energy Superpower requires a corresponding ambition to fix critical shortages in the electrical workforce.
Responsible Technology
June 25, 2024

Submission to the Statutory Review of the Online Safety Act 2021
Australia's online safety regulatory framework has strong content-focused laws but lacks provisions to address and oversee the risk-producing systems themselves.
Responsible Technology
April 11, 2024

Submission to Public Consultation on Doxxing and Privacy Reforms
Doxxing, which includes the deliberate online exposure of an individual’s identity, private information, or personal details with malicious intentions, can bring about dangers for individuals in the physical world, ranging from humiliation to physical stalking.
Progressive Economics
February 8, 2024

Submission to the Inquiry into Price Setting Practices and Market Power of Major Supermarkets
Our submission discusses how highly concentrated markets, and the substantial market power of Australia’s supermarket duopoly can harm consumers, workers, and fuel inequality. It makes several recommendations for the committee to consider.
Work and Workers
October 26, 2023

Submission to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Inquiry
Key to the Fair Work Act was the inclusion of a fair and comprehensive safety net: a set of minimum employment conditions which cannot be stripped away. Today, too many workers find themselves excluded from this safety net, falling through loopholes in our workplace laws.
Progressive Economics
September 22, 2023

Submission to the ACTU Inquiry into Price Gouging and Unfair Pricing Practices
Our submission discusses how the state of competition in Australian industries can harm consumers and workers, and fuel inequality. It advocates for expeditious reforms to our consumer and industrial law, to empower consumers and workers, and lessen the effect of future shocks.
Education
August 25, 2023

Submission to the Inquiry into the Higher Education Support Amendment
Per Capita supports the five priority actions outlined in the Interim Report, as well as the Government’s commitment to implement them all.
Work and Workers
July 27, 2023

Towards Fairness and Security: Reforming Casual Employment in Australia
Casual employment is meant to be about irregularity, or the absence of a firm advance commitment of continued work. Instead, the real characteristics of casual employment are: low pay, low power, low safety and low security.
Work and Workers
May 26, 2023

Response to the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations Measures
This submission covers employee-like reforms; casual workers; criminalising wage theft; stronger protections for workers against discrimination, adverse action, and harassment; and the 'Same Job Same Pay' legislation.
Work and Workers
April 27, 2023

Submission to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Protecting Worker Entitlements) Bill 2023
We acknowledge that the Bill is the next step in building a fairer more securing workplace relations system, after years of neglect, and look forward to making further submissions relating to governments agenda of closing the loopholes some businesses use to undercut worker security.
Uncategorised
April 21, 2023

Submission to the Inquiry into Management and Assurance of Integrity by Consulting Services
This submission is primarily concerned with outsourcing functions to private consultants, which have historically been within the purview of the Australian Public Service (‘APS’).
Social Innovation
March 26, 2023

Submission to the Inquiry into the National Cultural Policy
Access to, and participation in cultural events is a social justice issue, for creative industry workers, and for the public.
Homepage Feature
November 11, 2022

Submission to the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Bill
Per Capita has considered the Bill and is supportive of its aims. Our submission focusses on supported bargaining, single interest employer authorisations and cooperative workplaces. It also addresses some recent criticisms of the Bill.
Homepage Feature
September 13, 2022

Submission to the FWA (Equal Pay For Equal Work) Bill
Per Capita has considered the EPEW Bill and finds its scope woefully inadequate to address the problem it seeks to tackle: to ‘stop the exploitation and limit the use of labour hire contracts by removing the incentive for employers to do so, which is lower wages’.
Work and Workers
August 30, 2022

Submission to the Inquiry into Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave
Per Capita has considered the Bill and is supportive of its aims.
Sarah’s
Podcasts
Podcast
August 16, 2023
Re:CAP – Reforming Casual Employment in Australia
Welcome back to Re:CAP – Per Capita’s premier podcast where we unpack our latest research and examine the inequalities in Australian society. This week, Emma Dawson is joined by Research Associate for the Centre for New Industry, Sarah Mackenzie to discuss their latest report: Towards Fairness and Security – Reforming Casual Employment in Australia Read ... Read more
Sarah’s
Media
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Sarah’s
Blog Posts
Blog
June 6, 2025

The housing disaster is a national emergency – good thing Australia is excellent at navigating emergencies
Sarah McKenzie, Acting Executive Director The National Housing Supply and Affordability Council’s State of the Housing System 2025 Report, published in May this year, paints a grim picture of the state of Australia’s housing system. It is more than a housing crisis, it has become a full-scale national disaster. It is chronic and worsening, ... Read more
Blog
May 28, 2025

A Question of Quotas
By Sarah McKenzie Acting Executive Director, Per Capita Gender quotas in the Australian Labor Party have transformed not only the make-up of the party, but that of our entire Federal Parliament. Australia is now on the verge of opening its first gender-equal Parliament, driven in large part by Labor’s landslide victory at the 2025 Federal ... Read more
Blog
November 25, 2022

Radical IR agenda? Not really…
Attaining bipartisan approval on reforms to Australia’s industrial relations system has proved a colossal feat, marred by a tortuous parliamentary history. The passage of the Conciliation and Arbitration Act, which established Australia’s first industrial relations system, was a great destroyer of governments. The bill took three years to make its way through parliament, precipitated the ... Read more