Industrial Legislation in 2004

Abstract

The federal government finally secured passage of some of its workplace relations amendments in 2004—the transmission of business provisions for certified agreements, introduction of interim section 127 orders and some increased penalties for bad behaviour—and it dealt promptly with the Electrolux crisis created by the High Court in September. More amendments are clearly on the way. This report notes bills remaining on the agenda at the close of Parliamentary business in December. We also review the new Age Discrimination Act 2004 (Cwlth), and note some state developments.

The Neoliberal State, Trade Unions and Collective Bargaining in Australia

“…The Fair Dismissal Bill of 2004 sought to remove unfair dismissal protection for employees in small business, while in the same year, the Small Business Employment Protection Bill attempted to remove the requirement for small businesses to make redundancy payments to employees. However, these two bills, and dozens like them, were rejected by the Senate (Riley et al. 2005: 175–76).…”