Timeline Fair Work Australia Laws Legislation

Australian Workplace Agreements will be phased out; and
Collective workplace agreements will be positioned as the centrepiece of a workplace relations system.

To accommodate this, there will be an extension in many of the existing rules about agreement making and new rules will be introduced. In this article, we outline some of the expected changes and features of the collective bargaining system as envisaged by the new federal government.

As with the current system, the ability to make collective agreements will be open to employers with unionised workplaces, and those employers without a union presence in the business. There will be rules about approval. Whether it is a union or a non-union agreement, each agreement will need the support of a majority of employees at the workplace.

Once approved by the majority, agreements will need to be filed with, and assessed by, a central authority. At the moment, the Workplace Authority carries out this task. From January 2010, Fair Work Australia will carry out this role. Agreements will be approved within 7days of filing. The decision to approve will be made on the documents as filed and there will be no formal hearing.

There will be rules about bargaining. Employers will be required to inform employees of their right to choose their bargaining representatives and will be required to provide statements to employees with this information. Good faith bargaining will be enshrined in the legislation. Consequently, parties will need to attend and participate in meetings at reasonable times and disclose information in a timely manner. A bargaining party will be required to consider proposals by the other bargaining party. Capricious or unfair conduct will not be permitted.

There will be rules about content. The current notion of 'prohibited content' will not be retained. This means that the content of agreements will be a matter for the parties to decide. Fair Work Australia will test each agreement to ensure that employees are 'better off overall'. This assessment will take into account award conditions and the various employment standards that the government intends to introduce by January 2010. Each collective agreement is to contain a flexibility clause to allow additional arrangements between the employer and an individual employee. These arrangements must not result in disadvantage to the employee.

Please note: The laws have not changed yet. Detailed draft legislation has not been released and so the outcomes may differ from those described here.

Julia Gillard announced on ABC radio that the legislation for the scrapping of AWAs will be put throught the senate by the end of this week.

The federal government is moving to have its workplace relations legislation rubber stamped by the end of the week.

Labor's transition bill to abolish Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs) will pass through the lower house on Monday.

Workplace Relations Minister Julia Gillard said the government wants the bill passed before Easter but is willing to amend the legislation if worthwhile recommendations are made.

"We anticipate that Labor's bill will go through the House of Representatives in the middle of the day," Ms Gillard told ABC Radio.

"The Senate inquiry will report and we will be asking the Senate to deal with the legislation so that it is finalised before Easter."

The committee overseeing the Senate inquiry has studied around 60 submissions and has travelled around the country collecting evidence.

"It may be that the Senate inquiry does come up with some technical advice that is worth listening to, and we will be happy to consider their report when we receive it," Ms Gillard said.

"We have always been open to making technical or clarifying changes which were in accord with Labor's legislation.

"Our policy is going to be delivered, it's going to be delivered in full, and we wouldn't count any amendments that were different from our policy."

Opposition spokeswoman for workplace relations Julie Bishop said the inquiry has raised serious concerns in relation to the building industry and wants the laws redrafted.

"Construction is done on a project basis, people are employed for the life of the project and Labor's transition arrangements don't take into account that kind of employment contract," Ms Bishop told ABC Radio.

"While I'm reading the evidence I am coming to the view that the bill needs serious redrafting.

"Hopefully the Senate report will highlight the shortcomings and the government will analyse the evidence before the Senate inquiry and will redraft the bill."

The law banning any new workplace agreements was signed today making any new AWAs illegal after midnight tonight.

28th March 2008

The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations today proclaimed with the Governor General the Workplace Relations Amendment (Transition to Forward with Fairness) Act 2008.

The proclamation of the Act is the beginning of the end of the previous Liberal Government's extreme Work Choices laws which were introduced two years ago today.

The legislation reflects the Rudd Government's election commitments, which were set out in Forward with Fairness and the Forward with Fairness Implementation Policy Plan. The key previsions of the Transition to Forward with Fairness Act:

Prevents the making of new Australian Workplace Agreements;
Allows employers using AWAs as at 1 December 2007 to offer Individual Transitional Employment Agreements (ITEAs) to new employees and employers already on AWAs, for the transition period while award modernisation takes place;
Introduces a genuine no-disadvantage test for new collective agreements and ITEAs;
Enables the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) to undertake the process of award modernisation; and
Removes the requirement for employers to provide the Workplace Relations Fact Sheet to their employees.

Following the nominal expiry date of an AWA made under Work Choices, it may be terminated unilaterally by either the employer or employee on 90 days’ notice. The employee would then be entitled to the benefit of the whole of an applicable collective agreement or award in the workplace.

As requested by employer and employee representatives, the Act will allow parties to retain pre-Work Choices certified agreements and to extend or vary those agreements in limited circumstances to avoid a odouble transition prior to the commencement of the Government’s new workplace relations system in 2010.

The Government will introduce its substantive workplace relations reforms into Parliament later this year after extensive consultation, to ensure that the Rudd Government's new workplace relations system is fair, flexible and productive.

Timeline for the roll out of Fair Work Australia

Australian Workplace Agreement to be replaced by Collective Agreements

28th March 2008