This paper examines the influence of individual characteristics on the chance of being unemployed. Most of the attention is focused on the characteristics specific to migrants; birthplace, period of residence, and proficiency in the English language. The analysis is based on data from the 1981 Census. The results indicate that a migrant is less likely to be unemployed the longer he has been in Australia. The likelihood of being unemployed falls most during the first two years after arrival for all birthplace groups. Most of the higher unemployment rate for migrants relative to Australian‐born is due to the high chance of recently arrived migrants being unemployed. It is argued that immigration policy should not be determined without regard to the labour market situation

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There has been a discernable focus within many Australian industries on improving the rates of completion amongst their apprentices and trainees. This paper outlines the results of a study which involved a multivariate analysis of data relating to apprenticeship and traineeship completion, derived from a database developed by the Victorian Government. The aim of the study was to investigate the relative strength of factors contributing to an individual"s likelihood to complete or not complete an apprenticeship or traineeship and the interaction between these factors. The paper also attempts to interpret the results and findings from the above analysis, as well as identify and outline other areas for further research.

Recent theoretical developments postulate that much of the mobility in the labour market arises from imperfect information. As new information is acquired, either about alternative opportunities or about the productivity of the current job, a worker may quit or be laid off. The paper reviews some of these developments and evaluates the predictions they generate against data from the Australian Mobility Survey. It is found that the tenure, age and occupational effects on mobility are broadly consistent with these predictions. The implications of these findings are discussed with reference to the longstanding concern about the flexibility of the Australian labour market.In the traditional theory of competitive labour markets, job mobility is a consequence of changes in technology and demand. Such changes cause wages and marginal products to diverge and start a process of reallocation of labour so as to restore the equality and achieve equilibrium in the labour market.In this process, relative wages are the main signals for the economic agents. From this, the policy prescription that flexible wages are a necessary condition for labour market efficiency is deduced.Whether Australia's centralized wage determination system provides the necessary flexibility has been a long-standing issue, and evidence about the mobility of labour has been important in shaping the various views. Thus Blandy and Richardson (1982) argue that the labour market works as implied by the traditional theory but the adjustments are mainly of 'wage-like* forms. Likewise, Keating (1983) does not reject the traditional model, but concludes that even small changes in relative wages are sufficient to achieve a desired reallocation of labour. The perspective adopted in these studies is, however, incomplete. Much recent work has shown that in the absence of perfect information mobility persists even in equilibrium. Job changes take place as a consequence of workers and firms acquiring more information, either about alternative job opportunities or about the quality of an existing match. Thus many moves are not brought about by relative wage changes, and it is not necessarily the case that higher wages must accompany expanding employment.Indeed, Bell and Freeman (1985) found that wages move in the opposite direction to what would be expected to obtain the desired allocation of labour. This suggests that a supply factor, the productivity of the workforce, may be a more important determinant of wages than demand factors. Nor can

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