The AIRC’s Test Case on Work and Family Provisions: the End of Dynamic Regulatory Change at the Federal Level?

By Jill Murray

Perhaps the most significant aspect of the AIRC decision in the work and family case (143 IR 245) is its formalization of a right to request part-time work to care for pre-school age children and an additional year's parental leave.

The employer may 'only refuse the request on reasonable grounds related to the effect on the workplace or the employer's business.' However the provisions relate directly to the dispute resolution procedures in awards and agreements so institutional oversight of an employee's 'right to request' leave could create a more detailed regulatory persona than we might expect. The impact of the WorkChoices legislation with the Fair Pay and Conditions Standard will undermine this.

Murray points to the tragedy of the undermining of the AIRC without any assessment of its role in the national economy beyond government and employer rhetorical assaults. The innovative role the AIRC has played in developing the structures and conditions of Australian workplace conditions and rates is not a subject for discussion in the current climate.

(Australian Journal of Labour Law vol. 18, no 3, November 2005 pp325-343)