The idea that employment automatically leads to personal well-being and social inclusion is being questioned by a Charles Sturt University (CSU) researcher. In an address to the 2009 Social Inclusion Forum in Melbourne on Thursday 25 June, Dr Helen Masterman-Smith will question what, if anything, the Federal Government’s Social Inclusion Agenda (SIA) has done to address the kinds of barriers that low paid workers encounter. “Labour market participation is a cornerstone of the whole-of-government approach that the Commonwealth is developing to improve social inclusion. However, its SIA recognises that low pay and poor job quality often derail this key objective.” A sociology lecturer and co-author of the book Living Low Paid, Dr Masterman-Smith says the difficulties of ‘making work pay’ at the bottom end of the labour market is a social inclusion challenge that has yet to receive the policy or public attention it warrants. She will also comment on whether the Australian labour market and economy can actually deliver a ‘just transition’ to a low-carbon economy, through the Emissions Trading Scheme, or whether such a transition will simply reproduce current labour market inequalities.