WorkChoices

WorkChoices

The Workplace Relations Act 1996, as amended by the Workplace Relations Amendment Act 2005, popularly known as Work Choices, was a Legislative Act of the Australian Parliament that came into effect in March 2006 which involved many controversial amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996, the main federal statute which regulated industrial relations in Australia.

Work Choices was passed by the Howard Government in 2005 and was designed to improve employment levels and national economic performance by dispensing with unfair dismissal laws for companies under a certain size, removing the "no disadvantage test" which had sought to ensure workers were not left disadvantaged by changes in legislation, thereby promoting individual efficiency and requiring workers submit their certified agreements directly to Workplace Authority rather than going through the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. It also significantly compromised a workforce's ability to legally go on strike, requiring workers to bargain for previously guaranteed conditions without collectivised representation, and significantly restricting trade union activity and recruitment on the work site.

The passing and implementation of the new laws was strongly opposed by the left side of politics, particularly the trade union movement. Critics argued that the laws stripped away basic employee rights and were fundamentally unfair. The Australian Council of Trade Unions consistently ran television advertisements attacking the new laws.

Work Choices was a major issue in the 2007 federal election, as the Australian Labor Party (ALP) vowed to abolish it. Labor under Kevin Rudd subsequently won the election, with Work Choices being one of the biggest issues of the campaign, and repealed the entirety of the WorkChoices legislation shortly after assuming office.

Read more about WorkChoices:  Work Choices Changes, Introduction of The Bill Into Parliament, Opposition To The Changes, Campaigns, Scope of The System, Senate Inquiry, Political Reactions and Consequences, High Court Challenge, 'Work Choices' Brand Discarded, Legacy