Monthly Update—Australian Labour & Employment - June 2016

MESSAGE FROM THE EDITOR

In this month's Update, we focus on a number of recent developments which have attracted a great deal of media attention and are likely to significantly alter the landscape of labour & employment law in Australia. These include the ruling of the Fair Work Commission ("Commission") to increase the national minimum wage and the Coles decision recently handed down by the Full Bench of the Commission regarding the "better off overall test". We also revisit an issue discussed in last month's Update (the granting of legal representation before the Fair Work Commission) in a commentary that examines the broader implications of recent decisions involving section 596 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and the effectiveness of that provision in affording parties procedural fairness.