Both major parties are selling balance and flexibility, but there's not much under the bonnet, writes Mark Bahnisch

The Australian Work and Family Policy Roundtable recently released benchmarks for the assessment of policy proposals for improving work and family outcomes in Australia. CPD fellow Eva Cox examines how the major parties’ 2007 election announcements shape up so far.

Ian McAuley argues that WorkChoices is likely to have a negative impact on productivity: "If labour is cheaper to employ there will be less incentive for firms to ensure workers are employed productively."

Just as houses need effective architecture and design, so too do Indigenous housing policies, writes Michael Dillon.

We save it, spend it, invest it, and waste it, yet we never have enough of it. Time is a finite resource, and we seem to be running out. Political parties who ignore the latest research on what time-poverty is doing to our relationships don't deserve to spend time in government, argues Eva Cox.

Huge changes have been taking place in Australians' working lives but public policy is yet to catch up. Brian Howe outlines the concrete measures being taken in Europe to restore workers' 'time sovereignty'.

Time is the currency of relationships, but the never-ending expansion of our working lives is leading to a social recession. Australia's leading social capital expert Eva Cox argues for policies to help us reclaim our time.

Much has been written about the apparent failure of child protection authorities to rescue children from situations of significant abuse or neglect, or to protect the rights of children who are living in substitute care writes Philip Mendes. But the real national scandal is arguably the sudden abandonment of young care leavers when their protective court order ceases between the age of 16-18 years.