The Arbitration Commission's Conflict of Identity

Abstract

The introduction of wage indexation in Australia has seen a renewal of the debate as to whether, and to what extent, the Arbitration Commission should act as an economic tribunal. This debate is not a new one. For 70 years the Arbitration Commission has faced the dilemma of deciding how much emphasis to place on its economic role at the expense of its prime role as a settlor of industrial disputes. The history and reality of industrial relations in this country shows that the Arbitration Commission is ill-equipped to act as an economic tribunal. When the Commission does attempt to carry out economic policy at the expense of its dispute-settling function, parties in dispute tend to find other means outside the arbitration system of settling disputes, thus diminishing the Commission's role in the industrial relations system and rendering useless any economic impact its decisions might have anyway.