Abstract: [Extract] The purpose of this chapter is to provide a basic understanding of Australian industrial law.
Australian industrial (or employment) law is unique and draws on a number of sources, namely, statutes;
cases; awards laid down by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission; and agreements and bargains
agreed to by the parties to the employment relationship. Additionally, there have always been State labour
jurisdictions and specialist statutes on matters such as public service employment and discrimination law.
The chapter has been written during a state of flux that labour law in this country has not seen since it
was first established about 100 years ago. In March 2006, the Work Choices amendments to the Workplace
Relations Act 1996 (Cth) became operative. These changes herald a fundamental systemic shift in the way
in which employment and labour law operates. They aim to make the area far more individualistic and
dependent on agreements privately made between the parties to the employment relationship. As such, the
amendments aim to lessen the role of the Industrial Commission and trade unions—in essence, they
endeavour to deregulate the law. They also aim to subsume or abolish the State systems and usher in a
single national unitary system of industrial relations.
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Language: en
Type: book-chapter
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Cited By Count: 8
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