Nine out of every ten jobs created for Australians under the age of 25 in the last year were part-time, according to research.
Corporate adviser Conrad Liveris found using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that in the year since May 2017, older Australians were more likely to get full-time work than younger Australians.
While employment growth overall was up, with 80,600 jobs created for people aged 15–24 in the last year, full-time employment dropped 11.24% and part-time employment grew 10.2%
"Though the strong headline employment should be welcomed, the casualisation is nowhere near replacement rate," Liveris said in the report.
"Over the past year, more than seven in every 10 jobs created for people aged under 35 were part-time, and more than nine in every 10 for people aged under 25."
Older workers generally get full-time employment, while younger workers bear the burden of the casualisation of the workforce, Liveris said. And young women are the most impacted.
"Across all age groups and genders, young women have the least access to full-time work," he said. "While part-time work has tended to rise across the age groups and genders. There are clear age differences in the labour market.
"While older workers are staying in the workforce longer with distinct employment growth, younger people are starting their careers in work which is largely part-time, unstable, and insecure."
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has been campaigning against the casualisation of the Australian workforce this year. In a speech earlier this year, ACTU secretary Sally McManus said casual workers should be able to become permanent employees.
"Workers in Australia can get trapped in casual employment," McManus said in March. "The average tenure is over three years. We have to change the rules so big business can no longer deny people basic rights by refusing them permanent positions."
In total 57.81% of all jobs created in the last year were full-time, but part-time job creation grew more than full-time job creation (3.18% compared with 2.07%).
Jobs were more likely to be found in New South Wales than anywhere else, with 1 in 4 jobs created in Australia's most populous state. The Northern Territory was the worst performing.