The Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria: A Decade of Change

Abstract

The Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria and its Conciliation and Arbitration Boards were established by the Industrial Relations Act 1979. The Act introduced some fundamental structural and procedural changes into the Victorian system, though the traditional emphasis on an informal and participatory approach to industrial regulation, which had made the system so distinctive, was preserved. Since 1979 many amendments to the Act and procedural changes to this system of industrial relations have been made. A number of the changes to the system may be characterized as cosmetic, as they do not affect the informal approach of the system. Others, however, are more intrinsic to the system, altering the structures, powers and operations of the tribunal. This paper examines the circumstances under which change has occurred, and it is argued that, in overcoming operational and jurisdictional problems, the changes of the last ten years have introduced a degree of formality into the Victorian Commission.