Workplace Relations

The Australian workplace relations landscape needs to be underpinned by policies that prioritise enterprise-level bargaining, streamline modern awards, support business flexibility for employees and employers, and promote equality and fairness. 

ACCI advocates for enterprise-level bargaining as a way for businesses to negotiate the terms that suit their specific needs, while driving enhanced productivity. We also support policies that focus on modernising and simplifying the increasingly complex system of modern awards, allowing businesses of all sizes to navigate the workplace relations system without unnecessary hurdles. 

Flexibility for businesses is a guiding principle for ACCI, especially as work evolves to include a vast array of working arrangements and the constant development of capacity-enhancing technologies. More flexibility allows for dynamic business practices and means that both employees and employers can collaboratively determine a mutually beneficial approach to work.

The Fair Work Act contains the legislative framework for workplace relations in Australia. ACCI advocates for the simplification of the Fair Work Act and a reduction in unnecessary regulatory measures applied to businesses to restore a balance that supports business-driven productivity, protecting the rights of both employees and their employers.

Workforce flexibility is a critical focus for ACCI, particularly in consideration of the rapidly evolving technological landscape, and the productivity challenges faced by businesses in Australia. The Australian workplace relations landscape must support the ability for business to grow and remain competitive to promote a thriving Australian economy. See our workplace policy positions below.

Shaun Schmitke

Director | Workplace Relations 

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Bargaining

Support enterprise-level bargaining to boost productivity and fairness for employers and employees
ACCI believes that enterprise-level bargaining is preferable to multi-employer agreements in all circumstances. In line with the objectives of the Fair Work Act, enterprise-level agreements create conditions that are beneficial for both employers and employees, whereas multi-employer agreements often force business into a one-size-fits-all approach that is not fit for purpose. A move to enterprise-level bargaining as the preferred model results in gains for both parties, including better working conditions and increased productivity, as well as a stronger alignment of business and worker interests. Current industrial relations legislation that discourages enterprise-level bargaining should be wound back, and employers must be given the opportunity to opt-out of multi-employer bargaining negotiations.

Prevent enterprise agreements from undermining efficient and harmonious workplaces
IIt’s crucial that enterprise agreements don’t remove an employer’s ability to make important operational decisions. Current IR legislation allows third parties, including unions, to interfere with managerial prerogative, through the guise of enterprise bargaining. Permitted matters must be reformed to prevent agreements stripping employers of the ability to make decisions that are firmly the prerogative of management.

Modern Awards

Simplify modern awards to be a genuine minimum standard for employees, not an avenue to impose rigorous and unnecessary conditions
Modern awards were put in place to provide a minimum standard for employees, including benchmarking wages and base rates of pay. Modern awards should not make way for third parties to impose extra conditions on business. Smaller businesses don’t have the resources to navigate complicated award conditions. We advocate for modern awards to be simplified and additional conditions to be negotiated through enterprise bargaining, making the system fairer for businesses of all sizes.

Level the playing field for smaller businesses by providing assurances on award matters
Small businesses often lack the legal resources and finances that larger companies can access, making it more difficult for them to seek support on potential award disputes. Frequently, they rely on the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) to provide this support. To level the playing field for smaller businesses, the FWO needs the authority to provide binding advice to small business owners on modern award matters, acting as a safe harbor where such advice is followed.

Fair and Lawful Workplaces

Create a fairer workplace relations system for businesses struggling with the burden of complex industrial relations reforms and inflationary pressures
Our workplace relations system should be fair for both employees and employers. Recent changes to the Fair Work Act place disproportionately impede businesses, through the inclusion of complex non-consensual multi-employer agreements and other onerous provisions. This, coupled with frequent changes to legislation, makes it difficult for businesses to navigate the complex regulatory landscape they operate within. We advocate for legislative reforms that focus on creating a more equitable system for businesses across the board. To ease the burden on small businesses and create a fairer system for all, we want to see a small business division introduced in the Fair Work Commission to deal with these issues. Additionally, the definition of small business in the Fair Work Act should be expanded to mean a business with fewer than 25 employees so that more small employers can access critical exemptions from onerous new workplace laws.

Ensure fairness in the workplace by protecting both employers and employees, and crack down on unlawful behaviours
Fairness in the workplace can’t be achieved unless the rights of both employees and employers are protected. For too long, unlawful behaviour has run rampant across the construction industry. The abolition of the Australian Building and Construction Commission (ABCC) has led to an increase in this behaviour, so we call on the Australian Government to reinstate the building watchdog along with its full powers and commit to combatting lawlessness in all workplaces. Additionally, reforms to the ‘fit and proper person’ test for right of entry to premises need to prevent criminals accessing worksites under the guise of safety.

Workplace Flexibility

• Create regulatory room for businesses to engage employees on the basis of what they need and what suits their operations.
• Address ambiguities in employment laws that create uncertainty around different forms of engagement.

Independent Contracting

• Ensure that the workplace relations system does not inhibit Australians’ ability to be their own boss.
• Protect freedom of choice in how individuals and businesses structure their relationships and prevent changes that would reshape the nature of the engagement away from true self-employment.

Modern Slavery

• Equip smaller businesses with practical ways to identify and mitigate modern slavery risks in their supply chains, including through information-sharing with larger organisations.
• Emphasise awareness, education and problem-solving rather than prosecution.

Workplace Gender Equality

• Support policy that promotes gender equality and encourages women’s workforce participation.
• Advocate for policies that promote workplaces with zero tolerance for discrimination and sexual harassment, while emphasising awareness, education and problem-solving rather than prosecution in discrimination matters.