Liberty or protection? Making law for employment and social security

ABSTRACT Recent disruptions to the usual working conditions, such as the pandemic, highlight the insecurity of the minimum waged, casually employed working poor; they also point up the precarity of the heavily indebted, over-worked middle-class. Contrasting the cause of social protection with that of market liberty, this study examines the terms of the security debate to see how the cause of protection seeks to counter the cause of liberty. It reviews three recent regulatory events to see what success the cause of protection has had: the industrial relations reform process, the government response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the agenda setting for women’s economic security. It notes the reforms that Australia's new Labor government proposes. The study recommends that, if reforms are to be effective, the cause of protection must move beyond the particulars of the labour contract to address the structures of power in the political economy of law making.