Since early 2006, the federal labour inspectorate, now known as the Fair Work Ombudsman ('FWO'), has been both active and innovative in promoting and enforcing employment standards. While various enforcement tools are available to the FWO, civil remedy litigation has been an especially visible...

The importance of accountability has long been sheeted home to the Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO), the federal statutory agency responsible for enforcement of minimum employment standards under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth). In the immediate aftermath of Work Choices, the activities of...

Most collective bargaining regimes operate by establishing a right to bargain collectively at enterprise or industry level. In theory, the law operates to facilitate collective bargaining by providing that employers must not refuse to bargain collectively with employee representatives where a...

The Coalition Government and various business groups continue to argue that the need for more labor market "deregulation" or "reform" justifies further changes to Australia's labor relations system. However, one of its more recent legislative initiatives, the Building and Construction Industry...

Trade unions in Australia have long played an important role in the enforcement of minimum employment standards. At the same time that the law has evolved to emphasize the representation and servicing role of trade unions, the Australian union movement has sought to revitalize and grow through...

The Prime Minister's recent statement outlining the Coalition Government's plans for industrial relations heralds a period of profound change in Australian labour regulation. Proposed alterations to the institutional landscape for regulation of wages and other minimum standards, including a...