Hellenic Club in the City 5:30pm - 6pm: Drinks and Canapes 6pm - 7pm: Presentation 7pm - 7:30pm: Drinks Free to members $22 non members Register at: https://awards-penalty-rates-wage-fixation.eventbrite.com.au Are awards, penalty rates and wage fixation relevant, necessary or desirable? Awards and, more recently penalty rates, have become an important influence on the labour market in Australia as a result of a number of decisions by numerous state and federal commissions and tribunals, most recently the Fair Work Commission. Those decisions were based on applicable social mores and conditions in a labour market quite different to that of a modern Australian economy. How relevant are the myriad awards and their dictated penalty rates to today's social mores and conditions and the modern service-based economy? What are the consequences of penalty rates for employment, productivity, profitability and consumer welfare and what would be the impact of their removal? These questions will be examined in the context of the economics of labour markets. The restaurant, café and catering industry is used as a specific example to illustrate the effects of penalty rates and their removal.   Phil Lewis is Emeritus Professor of Economics and Director of the Centre for Labour Market Research (CLMR) at the University of Canberra. Phil is among the best-known economists in the area of the economics of employment, education and training in Australia and is the author of over 100 publications including journal articles, book chapters and books including the best selling Essentials of Economics published by Pearson. Apart from a distinguished academic career he has worked in government and has produced a number of major reports for the private and public sectors. Phil is the editor of the Australian Journal of Labour Economics, the journal of the Australian Society of Labour Economist. He is Past National President of the Economic Society of Australia and Past President of the Western Australian and Canberra branches of the Society. In 2008 he was awarded the Honorary Fellow Award by the Economic Society for his exceptional contribution to the economics profession.