Workplace change and employment relations reform in Australia

Abstract

Russell D. Lansbury argues that reform of employment relations has been central to political and economic debate in Australia during the past two decades. The process of enterprise bargaining was begun by the Hawke Labor government in the late 1980s, with the cooperation of the union movement, as an attempt to decentralise the employment relations system. More radical reforms have been introduced by the Howard Coalition government since the mid 1990s designed to individualise the employment relationship and reduce union involvement. Yet the responses by employers to these recent changes have varied