The Labor Government's Industrial Relations Policy: Flexibility with Equity

Abstract

The fundamental objective of the Government's industrial relations policy is to encourage and assist Australian companies and their employees to adopt work and management practices that will strengthen their capacity to compete successfully both in domestic and international markets. To this end we support co-operative and equitable workplace bargaining, with wage increases being linked to the reform of work practices and attitudes. Our support for decentralised bargaining is aimed at improving productivity by fostering a new workplace culture of striving for continuous improvement. We emphatically reject the view that such an outcome will be achieved by wholesale deregulation and reliance on unfettered market forces. The Government is committed, for both equity and efficiency reasons, to maintaining the Accord approach to wages policy. We are also committed to an independent Australian Industrial Relations Commission playing the vital role of protecting lower paid employees through the safety net of minimum award wages and conditions.