or Compounding Problems?

Fair Work Australia is to provide the institutional framework for the Australian industrial relations system from January 2010. Its creation provides the opportunity to improve minimum labour standards ’ enforcement in Australia. However, the experience of the past must be appreciated and traditional assumptions about the operation of the Australian enforcement system discarded if the new institution is to be effective in its role. This paper focuses on the role of unions in enforcement as well as institutional location issues to expose a number of central enforcement problems that those seeking to establish new systems and processes should consider. A number of recommendations in respect of the structure of Fair Work Australia and the continuing role of unions are suggested. An implicit assumption in the Australian industrial relations arena throughout the 20th century has been that checks and balances within the system were adequate to ensure minimum labour standards ’ compliance, and that employer evasion of such obligations was rare. Recent research in the area of minimum labour standards enforcement in Australia provided the first insights into inspection in the federal jurisdiction (Goodwin 2003). Subsequent analysis of this data highlighted several issues related to compliance: employer award non-complianc