Information about the inquiry
Amendments likely to be passed to the Workplace Relations Act late in
2005 are expected to lead to a gradual decline in the number of
industry-based agreements and industrial awards. Content will also
change. Collective enterprise agreements will remain numerically
significant, but are likely to change in content. There will be an
increase in the proportion of wage and employment condition individual
agreements made between individual workers and their employers.
Forthcoming legislation may mean the role of unions in negotiating
agreements is also likely to diminish.
The Employment, Workplace Relations and Education References Committee
will inquire into the current nature of agreement making, and examine the
changed dynamics of workplace agreement making which is likely to occur
with the announced radical overhaul of the Workplace Relations Act. The
Committee will examine whether the agreement-making system, including
proposed changes, meet the social and economic needs of all Australians.
The committee will inquire as to whether the new industrial relations
regime is likely to disadvantage particular sectors of the workforce; and
whether there is any disparity in bargaining power between employers and
employees; and whether new procedures for agreement making are fair,
equitable and open to choice as to the form an agreement may take. The
committee will also look at whether the agreement making changes promote
higher productivity.
Terms of reference
The committee
invites submissions addressing some or all of the terms of reference. The
committee will report on 31 October 2005. Submissions are still being
accepted.
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For further information, contact:
Committee Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia