The Hon. MATTHEW MASON-COX:
Mr Watson, I refer to your comment that WorkCover is such a good place to work and that is why so many people want to work there. How does that statement stack up in light of the reports in the press about bullying and harassment in WorkCover? Indeed, your own survey [...]

 
Australia is one step closer to a national industrial relations system under draft laws the federal government has introduced to parliament.
 
The legislation aims to end the overlap and duplication of state and federal workplace relations systems that continued to cause inefficiency and uncertainty as well as legal complexity, Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard says.
 
The Fair [...]

Unions will know in the next two weeks the extent of powers the new industrial body, Fair Work Australia, will have to oversee the building and construction industry.
Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard has brushed off accusations the government has tried to silence debate about the fate of the Howard government’s construction industry watchdog.
Unrest over the [...]

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has backed away from a pledge that no worker would be left worse off by award modernisation, saying that remained the government’s objective but was never a guarantee.
Under Labor’s overhaul of the system, more than 4,000 state and federal awards are set to be streamlined into 130 new national awards.
But the [...]

It is nearly two years since former Prime Minister John Howard’s government was defeated in an electoral landslide, in no small part due to opposition to its hated “Work Choices” laws, which helped employers impose individual contracts on workers.
Workers were led to believe—or at least hope—by their unions that “your rights at work” would be [...]

A peak business group has accused the new workplace regulator Fair Work Australia of overstepping its power, claiming it is allowing unions to “frustrate democratic processes”.
A series of decisions by Fair Work Australia to block or delay votes on workplace agreements, and order companies to meet with unions, prompted the Australian Industry Group to yesterday [...]

The Rudd government has a mandate to reform the powers of the building and construction industry watchdog, Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard says.
Her comments come after a Labor-dominated Senate committee released a report backing government plans to replace the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) with an inspectorate with watered down powers inside Fair Work [...]

The July 1 arrival of Fair Work Australia suggests claims about the death of the Industrial Relations Club were somewhat embellished. For most of the 20th century, wages and conditions in Australia were determined by government-appointed commissions, unions and employer organisations which enjoyed the support of public servants along with most academics and journalists covering [...]

Don’t believe those militant employers who say Julia Gillard’s Fair Work Bill puts the unions back on top, nor those militant unions saying we’re getting Work Choices Lite.
Large slabs of John Howard’s Work Choices are retained but its most fundamental elements have been reversed.
As a result, the new industrial relations legislation the Rudd Government unveiled [...]

As of 1 July 2009, employers and employees may be subject to a new national workplace relations system. If you are an employer in the federal system, it’s important for you to be aware of and comply with the Fair Work Act 2009.
Fair Work Australia
The Fair Work Act 2009 provides for the establishment of Fair [...]