Leading New Zealand academic Professor Marilyn Waring will present her views today on how unpaid work, particularly that of women, is consistently devalued by standard measures of economic activity.

Professor Waring's keynote address is a highlight of day two of the joint 9th Path to Full Employment Conference and 14th National Conference on Underemployment being hosted by the University of Newcastle's Centre of Full Employment and Equity (CofFEE).

A former Member of the New Zealand Parliament and current Director of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand, Professor Waring is the author of the best selling book on unpaid work titled 'Counting for Nothing'.

Today's morning sessions will also consider the impact of climate change on the labour market and clean energy options, including the creation of a renewable energy hub in the Hunter Valley to replace clean coal production.

Afternoon sessions will discuss the multi-level nature of disadvantage in regional Australia, the need to value aged care, problems faced by the long-term unemployed, and the problem of housing affordability.

A full conference program can be viewed at: http://e1.newcastle.edu.au/coffee/conferences/2007/

The conference is being held on Level 2 of the General Purpose (GP) Building at the University of Newcastle, Callaghan campus.

Professor Marilyn Waring will address the conference at 10.15am.