The Australian Workers Party (AWP) is an

Australian political party The politics of Australia has a mild two-party system, with two dominant political groupings in the Australian political system, the Australian Labor Party and the Liberal/National Coalition. Federally, 16 of the 151 members of the lower house ( ...

which registered with the Australian Electoral Commission in February 2017. The party was de-registered on 15 June 2021. AWP was formed in response to the continual expansion of economic

neoliberalism Neoliberalism (also neo-liberalism) is a term used to signify the late 20th century political reappearance of 19th-century ideas associated with free-market capitalism after it fell into decline following the Second World War. A prominent fa ...

pursued and implemented by successive Australian governments. The party holds that Australia's main political parties both follow neoliberal economic philosophies which have led to unacceptable levels of

unemployment Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for Work (human activity), w ...

underemployment Underemployment is the underuse of a worker because a job does not use the worker's skills, is part-time, or leaves the worker idle. Examples include holding a part-time job despite desiring full-time work, and overqualification, in which the em ...

workforce casualisation Workforce casualisation is the process in which employment shifts from a preponderance of full-time and permanent positions to casual and contract positions. In Australia, 35% of all workers are casual or contract employees who are not paid for si ...

, the deterioration of

workers rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, these rights influe ...

, worker exploitation, the emergence of the working poor and inefficient policies affecting Australia's workforce. Whilst progressive in all of its policy areas and clearly standing for the ideals of "social and economic justice", the party retains its focus on the wellbeing of workers and their families,

macroeconomics Macroeconomics (from the Greek prefix ''makro-'' meaning "large" + ''economics'') is a branch of economics dealing with performance, structure, behavior, and decision-making of an economy as a whole. For example, using interest rates, taxes, and ...

and rejects neoliberal assertions which have become accepted as mainstream. The party subscribes to the economic branch of

Modern Monetary Theory Modern Monetary Theory or Modern Money Theory (MMT) is a heterodox * * * * * * macroeconomic theory that describes currency as a public monopoly and unemployment as evidence that a currency monopolist is overly restricting the supply of t ...

and advocates an economy which prioritises

full employment Full employment is a situation in which there is no cyclical or unemployment#Cyclical unemployment, deficient-demand unemployment. Full employment does not entail the disappearance of all unemployment, as other kinds of unemployment, namely Structu ...

. Notably, the party advocates the implementation of a

job guarantee A job guarantee is an economic policy proposal that aims to provide a sustainable solution to inflation and unemployment. Its aim is to create full employment and price stability by having the state promise to hire unemployed workers as an emplo ...

among its policy platform.

Election results

References

{{Political parties in Australia 2017 establishments in Australia Political parties established in 2017 Socialist parties in Australia