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ARTICLE · 28 APRIL 2016

What Lies Beyond Enterprise Bargaining?

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In 1993, the Keating government passed laws to move Australia towards a "system based primarily on bargaining at the workplace, with much less reliance on arbitration at the apex".

AustraliaEmployment and HR
Michael Tamvakologos
Michael Tamvakologos
Stephen Crilly
Stephen Crilly
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In 1993, the Keating government passed laws to move Australia towards a "system based primarily on bargaining at the workplace, with much less reliance on arbitration at the apex" (Laurie Brereton MP, Minister for Industrial Relations, 28 October 1993).  The embrace of enterprise bargaining instead of industry-wide, centralised wage fixation was to be the end of a creaking "Australian settlement" that had been overtaken by modern values and economic reality.

Enterprise level bargaining has undoubtedly been a positive move away from the system that preceded it.  Nevertheless, over 20 years since its introduction, an observer might feel skeptical about the promise of agreements that would be tailored to the needs of individual workplaces and their employees, under which "employees and employers alike can and will benefit".  It is not hard to find examples where enterprise bargaining's ideals are being undermined by:

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