An argument has erupted over the rate of casual employment in the Australian workforce with unions claiming it is on the rise, and Workplace and Deregulation Minister Craig Laundy dismissing this as a lie.
Mr Laundy's claim checks out, although it relies on a narrow definition of insecure work. Over the past 20 years (to 2017), the rate of casualisation has remained within a narrow band, hovering around 24 or 25 per cent of all employees, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Fact Check notes that the terms "casual employment" and "insecure work" are used interchangeably by Mr Laundy, while the ACTU considers casual work to be a sub-set of insecure work. As one expert told Fact Check, the debate over the rate of casualisation is "beset by loose language" and, therefore, open to interpretation.
Fact check: Has the rate of casualisation in the workforce remained steady for the last 20 years?
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