The Australian Government's objectives in commissioning this Inquiry are to examine the current operation of the Fair Work Laws and identify future options to improve the laws bearing in mind the need to ensure workers are protected and the need for business to be able to grow, prosper and employ. Scope of the Inquiry

Howard’s Work Choices reforms were seen by many as the enemy of the Aussie ‘fair go.’ Since then, the spectre of Work Choices has loomed large over the debate on labour market reform and created a toxic debate over the benefits and prospects of further reform. But if Australia’s economy is to continue to be...

Since the Labor Government replaced WorkChoices with the Fair Work Act, many business leaders have complained that the new legislation has made the labour market inflexible and unworkable. Conversely, some union leaders have voiced their disappointment that the Fair Work Act did not go far enough in reversing the trend towards labour market liberalisation. So...

This evaluation of the Fair Work Act 2009 and the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008 was formally assessed as meeting the requirements of a post-implementation review by the Office of Best Practice Regulation.

This report outlines core areas of Labor's Fair Work Act (2009) to identify the implications of key changes, particularly for women workers. It provides an analysis of the Act's potential to bring about a shift in the structure of gender relations, or the 'gender order', away from the existing male-breadwinner/part time female-carer model towards a...