Industrial Legislation in 2002

Abstract

Legislation proposed and passed in 2002 continued to demonstrate the close alliance between law and politics in this field. While the Federal government pressed on with its Workplace Relations third wave (the Registration and Accountability of Organisations legislation being its only significant success), recently elected Labor governments moved in contrary directions. The Gallop Labor government’s new Western Australian industrial laws feature in this report, and there is also a brief review of the Rann government’s commissioned review of South Australia’s industrial law. New South Wales introduced some protective measures for outworkers—and also restricted access to unfair contracts review to ‘high flyers’.