industrial relations

6 September 2023

“The federal government’s systematic re-regulation of Australia’s job market will further entrench the unprecedented, nation-wide shortage of workers, driving up costs for business and fuelling inflation,” said Saxon Davidson, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs. Earlier this week, the Federal Minister for Industrial Relations, Tony Burke, tabled the government’s latest tranche of industrial relations legislation, the Fair Work

29 May 2020

Journalists, economists, international observers, even businessmen have all paid homage to the Accord between the Hawke Government and the unions, judging it to be an economic saviour. But what is the reality? Des Moore taps this Australian political and economic idol and finds that it rings hollow. (Originally published in the IPA Review, December-February 1988/89. To access footnotes see also

30 September 2019

  Australia has a red tape crisis. And it’s the red tape you can’t see that’s making the problem worse. Kurt Wallace’s new report exposes Regulatory Dark Matter in Australia. Read more here: https://ipa.org.au/publications-ipa/media-releases/reign-in-regulators-to-cut-red-tape

30 August 2019

In a week’s time the federal Coalition will have been in government for six years after having won three elections in a row. For all the worthwhile things it has done over those years – and has tried to do but failed – industrial relations is one of the big policy areas the Coalition has been afraid to touch. Australia’s

8 May 2019

The survival of the Australian Building and Construction Commission has become a customary element of federal election campaigns. The ABCC was established in 2005, abolished in 2012, became the trigger for the 2016 double-dissolution election and was re-established that year. The ALP plans to abolish it if it wins the May 18 election. Perhaps many are ambivalent about the role

12 March 2019

The ACTU has claimed Australia is facing an “incomes recession”. Secretary Sally McManus says working people “are ready to take action to restore our living standards”. She plans worker protests before the federal election. Economic forecasters are puzzle­d by the behaviour of wages. We are approaching full employment. Bosses and recruitment firms complain about labour shortages. The economy continues to

9 March 2019

The ACTU has claimed Australia is facing an “incomes recession.”  Ms McManus, ACTU Secretary says that working people “are ready to take action to restore our living standards.” She plans worker protests before the federal election.  Economic forecasters are puzzled by the behaviour of wages.  We are approaching full employment.  Bosses and recruitment firms complain about labour shortages.  The economy

8 March 2019

This week the Prime Minister got his wish. On Tuesday, in his speech to The Australian Financial Review Business Summit, Scott Morrison wanted to get the media talking about the risk of a recession under a Labor government. On Wednesday we learned Australia was actually already in a recession, at least as measured by economic growth per head. The release

12 October 2017

Australia needs politicians like Emmanuel Macron – politicians who are willing to take on powerful vested interests for the sake of reform. Sure, there’s plenty not to like about Macron: the global warming evangelism, for one thing, or his ‘bold vision’ for a beefed-up European Union. But there is much to be admired in Macron’s economic agenda. More to the

18 July 2017

Recent IPA research shows that penalty rates were introduced in order to deter weekend work. Overtime, the justification of penalty rates has shifted to being a compensatory measure. As preferences and circumstances have changed over time, the need for additional compensation for weekend and public holiday work has also changed. On this basis, the recent decision of the Fair Work