This paper examines the impact of English and Australian unfair dismissal legislation on the common law rules which govern the termination of the employment contract. To explore this issue, the paper first outlines some general approaches to the interaction between statute law and the common...

The 2005 reforms to the Workplace Relations Act 1996 will inevitably undermine collective bargaining, and place greater emphasis on individualised agreement-making. This article highlights various aspects of the new provisions that will substantially bolster the bargaining position of employers,...

Following 13 years of Labor government at the Federal level a Liberal/National Party Coalition government was elected to office in the Australian general election of 1996. This government was subsequently re-elected in 1998, 2001, and again in 2004, before finally losing power in the 2007...

In 2005, Professor Phillipa Weeks published an insightful chapter entitled ‘Employment Law – A Test of Coherence Between Statute and Common Law' in S Corcoran and S Bottomley (eds) Interpreting Statutes. That chapter examined the emergence, development and ultimate emasculation of an implied...

The ‘gig economy', comprised of app-enabled enterprises that profit from connecting consumers with service providers through smart communications technology, is growing exponentially. For the workers who provide the services, however, this kind of labour market engagement looks very much like...

Despite the promise of cataclysmic change, 2003 saw very few, and very moderate reforms to industrial laws. The great debates about a unitary industrial relations system, greater legal discipline for the building and construction industry, paid maternity leave, compulsory individual contracts in...

As labor regulation in Australia has shifted away from reliance on conciliation and arbitration to set wages and employment conditions, industrial tribunals are increasingly being used to resolve individual grievances over employment rights, rather than collective labor disputes. We consider...

At the federal level, the year 2001 saw much legislative activity in the form of bills, debates, revisions and rejections - but very little progress for the government's 'third wave' industrial reform program. Apart from some changes to the unfair dismissals regime, much important legislation...

Legislation proposed and passed in 2002 continued to demonstrate the close alliance between law and politics in this field. While the Federal government pressed on with its Workplace Relations third wave (the Registration and Accountability of Organisations legislation being its only significant...