Labour market reform in Australia

This paper will undertake an analysis of the current debate in Australia about reform of industrial relations laws. The debate was prompted by the passage through Parliament in December 2005 of the Government's 'Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Bill'. The bill became law in March 2006. The Australian Government, led by Prime Minister John Howard argues that the new law will make the labour market more flexible, create more jobs, and be good for the economy. Critics disagree and claim that the law will transfer much bargaining power from employees to employers, diminish working conditions, frustrate and curtail trade unions, reduce collective bargaining and collective agreements and replace them with inferior individual contracts called Australian Workplace Agreements. Critics believe industrially weaker sections of the work force (often synonymous with lower paid sectors) will become worse off. This paper will endeavour to -shed light on this controversy by reference to relevant literature and analysing the experience with 'WorkChoices' in its early months, together with similar experiments in labour market deregulation, such as New Zealand in the 1990s.