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Evaluating Social Partnership in the Australian Context

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Developing Positive Employment Relations

Abstract

Over the past 2–3 decades, many western countries have pursued an employment relations (ER) agenda involving labour–management cooperation or a form of ‘partnership’; for example, the USA, Britain, Ireland and New Zealand (Ackers and Payne 1998; Kelly 2004; Johnstone et al. 2010; Macneil and Bray 2013; Cathcart 2014). Attracted by the success of partnership practices in the UK, Australian academics and policy-makers have previously investigated the viability of partnership models in the Australian context, both conceptually (Lansbury 2000; Gollan and Patmore 2006; Townsend et al. 2013) and through empirical case studies (Mitchell and O’Donnell 2007; Jones et al. 2008). Yet little research has specifically examined the role of current industrial relations practices in promoting workplace partnerships within both union and non-union settings in Australia. This chapter will thus focus on exploring the current industrial relations and regulatory context for the support of workplace partnership practices within the political and socioeconomic environment in Australia.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    See Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) s 89A; Re Award Simplification Decision (1997) 75 IR 272.

  2. 2.

    See Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth); Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 (Cth).

  3. 3.

    The Fair Work Amendment Act 2013 also amended the Fair Work Act 2009 ‘by inserting a new provision, s.145A, which provides that all modern awards must include a term requiring employers to consult employees about a change to their regular roster or ordinary hours of work’: Re Consultation Clause [2013] FWCFB 10165 [1].

  4. 4.

    This is made clear in the amended regulations requirement that consultation must occur ‘as soon as practicable after proposing to introduce the change’: Fair Work Regulations 2009 (Cth) Schedule 2.3 (5).

  5. 5.

    For example, a clause in an agreement did not comply with s 205 by excluding casual workers from having consultation rights: see CFMEU v St John of God Healthcare Inc [2014] FWCFB 4011; Andrew Stewart, Stewart’s Guide to Employment Law (The Federation Press, 5th ed, 2015) [8.31].

  6. 6.

    Key aims mentioned in the preamble of the EU Directive 2002 are: to promote social dialogue between management and labour; to strengthen dialogue and promote mutual trust within undertakings; and to increase employee availability to undertake measures and activities to increase their employability, promote employee involvement in the operation of the future of the undertaking and increase its competitiveness.

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Case Law

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Acknowledgment

Glenn Patmore would like to thank Rachel Varghese, Lois Pickering and Sarah Moorhead for their invaluable research assistance, proofreading and helpful comments on this chapter. This book chapter draws on and develops the author's own previous work, including Gollan and Patmore (2006) and Patmore (2010).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Ying Xu

  2. Melbourne Law School, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, VIC, Australia

    Glenn Patmore

  3. Department of Management, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia

    Paul J Gollan

Authors
  1. Ying Xu
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  2. Glenn Patmore
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  3. Paul J Gollan
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Newcastle University Business School, Newcastle University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

    Stewart Johnstone

  2. Griffith University, Nathan, Queensland, Australia

    Adrian Wilkinson

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Xu, Y., Patmore, G., Gollan, P.J. (2016). Evaluating Social Partnership in the Australian Context. In: Johnstone, S., Wilkinson, A. (eds) Developing Positive Employment Relations. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-42772-4_7

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