Executive Summary

Despite rising levels of prosperity in Australia in recent decades, there is growing economic and social inequality. Many people are working longer hours and more intensively in insecure jobs. Australia has one of the highest levels of causal employment in the industrialised world. Stress at work is one of the major causes of occupational illness. A more decentralised system of industrial relations has contributed to this situation by removing many of the previous safeguards which workers had under awards and agreements. This is exemplified by a number of award-based employment arrangements related to various forms of leave (e.g. sick leave and maternity leave) which have been ‘traded off ’ in enterprise agreements, often without union involvement or worker representation. This process has been assisted by legislative changes by the current Federal government which have been hostile to unions and have contributed to a decline in unionisation. The government has also weakened the powers of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission to protect workers whose bargaining power is weak. Many of those who advocate an even more deregulated and individualised form o