Not Fair, No Choice: The Impact of WorkChoices on Twenty South Australian Workers and their Households

By Jude Elton and Barbara Pocock

This report examines the experiences of twenty workers affected by changes to industrial law in Australia following the enactment of amendments to the federal Workplace Relations Act, 1996 in March 2006, commonly referred to as the WorkChoices amendments.

The in depth interviews which form the basis of this qualitative study were conducted in early 2007. Most of the workers who were interviewed are vulnerable and all of them were negatively affected by changes arising from their employment conditions.

Some of the workers in this study have had negative experiences that have been partly shaped by employers who have acted harshly, from these workers' perspectives. There have always been harsh bosses in Australia: this is not new. Some employers take advantage of employees and act unilaterally, whether legally or illegally, in ways that damage employees. However, the accounts assembled here suggest that WorkChoices has created a climate where some employers feel licensed to act with unilateral disdain for workers and their rights in many cases. Further it has resulted in direct cuts in workers' conditions - cuts which have not been compensated for by other positive changes in wages or conditions. The federal government's Stronger Safety Net Amendments of June 2007 will make little difference to most of the accounts set out in this report, especially those related to dismissal, control over working time, and work and family flexibility.

Centre for Work + Life; Hawke Research Institute for Sustainable Societies

University of South Australia, July 2007

(A report to SafeWork SA and The Office for Women)