Fair work act review: Towards more productive and equitable workplaces

Abstract

This evaluation of the Fair Work legislation was formally assessed as meeting the requirements of a post-implementation review by the Office of Best Practice Regulation. The Government is currently considering the report, and will respond in due course. Background The Fair Work Act 2009 and the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 gave effect to the Government’s commitment to restore fairness to the Australian workplace relations system. Due to the scale of these reforms, the Government made a commitment in the Explanatory Memorandum to the Fair Work Bill 2008 to review the operation of the legislation two years after its full commencement (that is, 1 January 2012). On 20 December 2011, the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations announced further detail of the review, including terms of reference. The review was conducted by a panel of eminent Australians, comprising Reserve Bank Board Member Dr John Edwards, former Federal Court Judge, the Honourable Michael Moore and noted legal and workplace relations academic Professor Emeritus Ron McCallum AO. On 18 January 2012, the Panel released a background paper and called for submissions to be made in response. Background paper ( PDF 470KB |  DOCX 1.18MB) The Panel received more than 250 written submissions. Public submissions can be viewed on the submissions page and the supplementary submissions page. Please note that where a party making a submission requested that it remain confidential, it will not be found on the website. In addition to the submissions process the Panel also conducted an extensive number of meetings and roundtable discussions with key stakeholders