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In many countries there has been a drive to determine wages and conditions at the level of the enterprise rather than at the industry or national level. In both Australia and New Zealand , governments have pursued policies that have attempted to decentralize their collective bargaining system to the enterprise level. Although in each case the approach to the process of decentralization has bee n different, both countries have sought to lower the level at which bargaining takes place.The decentralization of bargaining has implications for actors in the industrial relations system. This paper examines the impact of decentralization on women workers by updating information that has been collected on an ongoing basis at the

Handbook of Palliative Care in Cancer Fading Away: The Experience of Transition in Families with Terminal Illness

I would like to thankDr David Brereton and the anonymous referees of the JIR for their valuable comments on this paper.In the last century there has been an ongoing debate about the merits of Australia's unique system of industrial tribunals. Of particular concern has been the perceived effect of the tribunal system on industrial relations outcomes. This study adds to the debate by examining the impact of institutional structures on employment in a particular industry. The study focuses on the effect of regulation on the wages and conditions of workers in the food retail (supermarket) industry at workplace level in Victoria and London and the south-west of Britain. It concludes that in regard to wages and conditions of employment in this industry, the tribunal system of industrial relations has not produced an outcome that is markedly different from that produced by a deregulated system. However, the differences that do exist indicate that the tribunal system has resulted in somewhat fairer, more egalitarian outcomes for women and part-time workers. The study also concludes that, with regard to workplace flexibility, while the British industry appears to be somewhat more flexible, the differences between the two are slight.

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