Transporting the European Social Partnership Model to Australia

University of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 194

Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 48, 2006

Posted: 23 Nov 2006 Last revised: 29 Nov 2010

See all articles by Paul J. Gollan

Paul J. Gollan

London School of Economics - Department of Management (EROB Group)); University of New South Wales - Australian School of Business; Macquarie University - Department of Business

Glenn Patmore

University of Melbourne - Law School

Abstract

There has been a long tradition of debate over workplace democracy in Australia. Yet, workplace democracy remains one of the great unfulfilled promises of Australian labour law.

While the current focus on enterprise bargaining in the workplace might encourage us to think about new information and consultation mechanisms at work, there are no legislative provisions imminent. We argue that the voluntary approach of recent Australian governments has failed to create a generally available right to information and consultation at work. In this article we therefore consider how information and consultation procedures could be introduced into Australia, drawing upon the European social partnership model and the Australian experience with employee consultation mechanisms. In particular, the article assesses employee consultation procedures in light of good workplace relations practices. The article examines how the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) could be amended to incorporate a new model, and assesses its likely effectiveness in the current Australian industrial relations context.

Keywords: enterprise bargaining, workplace, consultation, labour law, workplace relations act 1996

JEL Classification: K31

Suggested Citation

Gollan, Paul J. and Patmore, Glenn, Transporting the European Social Partnership Model to Australia. University of Melbourne Legal Studies Research Paper No. 194, Journal of Industrial Relations, Vol. 48, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=946847

Paul J. Gollan

London School of Economics - Department of Management (EROB Group)) ( email )

Houghton Street
London, England WC2A 2AE
United Kingdom
+61 2 419985706 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://personal.lse.ac.uk/gollan/

University of New South Wales - Australian School of Business ( email )

Sydney 2052 NSW
Australia

Macquarie University - Department of Business ( email )

Sydney
Australia
0419985706 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.businessandeconomics.mq.edu.au/contact_the_faculty/staff/alphabetical_list_of_staff/paul_

Glenn Patmore (Contact Author)

University of Melbourne - Law School ( email )

University Square
185 Pelham Street, Carlton
Victoria, Victoria 3010
Australia

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