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The Future of Industrial Relations in Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

Keith Hancock*
Affiliation:
National Institute of Labour Studies, Flinders University; School of Economics, The University of Adelaide
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The institutions of industrial relations have proved to be more malleable than I expected in the mid-eighties, and the ‘system’ has, for better or for worse, been transformed.

Underlying forces conducive to change have been the economy’s exposure to external competition, related changes in the structure of industry and employment, the pervasive free market ideology and a sustained decline in union density. More fortuitous factors, such as the antipathy of an ACTU Secretary to members of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, a Prime Minister’s entrenched hostility to the ‘system’, the Coalition’s unexpected capture of a Senate majority in 2004 and the High Court’s validation of WorkChoices, have also contributed to the present state of play.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2008

References

Hancock, K., Bai, T., Flavel, J., Lane, A. (2007) Industrial Relations and Productivity in Australia, National Institute of Labour Studies, available: http://www.socsci.flinders.edu.au/nils/research/recentresearch.php [accessed 20 April 2008].Google Scholar
Kaufman, B. E. (2007) ‘The Core Principle and Fundamental Theorem of Industrial Relations', International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations, 23, pp. 533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, G. (2007) Working Together: Inquiry into Options for a New National Industrial Relations System, NSW Government, November 2007.Google Scholar