Fair Work Australia: The Commission Reborn?

Abstract

Fair Work Australia is a new institution created in 2009 to perform a range of functions under the Fair Work legislation – although it is far from the ‘one-stop shop’ that Labor had originally promised. It has much in common with the body it principally replaced, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, not least in terms of its personnel. Yet, at the same time, it has the freedom to operate in ways that have more in common with two other antecedents, the Workplace Authority and the Australian Fair Pay Commission. This article explores the character of the new agency and the processes it has chosen to adopt for four key functions: the approval of enterprise agreements; the resolution of unfair dismissal claims; wage fixation; and the setting and variation of minimum standards.