According to the Howard government and some 'small business' organisations, the changes made to Australian industrial relations arrangements by the 2005 'Work Choices' Act will be of particular importance to small and medium sized establishments (SMEs). Specifically, the dilution of the...

The increasing acceptance of enterprise bargaining by both employers and trade unions in Australia calls into question not only the ongoing role of industrial tribunals, but also that of employer associations and their traditional role in the collective representation of individual employers in...

As the largest private sector employer of indigenous workers, employers within the retail industry have the opportunity to improve the employment prospects of indigenous Australians. Contemporary literature, in addition to statistical evidence, highlights the high unemployment rates among...

In an environment of decentralised employment relations, employers associations must reassess their role if they are to remain relevant. The Australian Retailers? Association faces a particular challenge. On the one hand, it has traditionally focused on the interests of the largest retailers, at...

This article examines contemporary management strategy in the area of effective utilisation of human resources in the retail industry. The focus of the industrial relations system has shifted from the national level to the enterprise level, and like many other industries, retail employers are...

This paper examines the responses of the Australian Retailers' Association to the deregulation of industrial relations. The acceptance of enterprise bargaining both by employers and trade unions in Australia calls into question the ongoing role of employers' associations. This question is...

Australian trade unions prospered for much of the last century but have suffered membership decline since the late 1970s. The growth of unions in the earlier part of the twentieth century has frequently been attributed to the establishment of a centralised conciliation and arbitration system....