March Article of the Month

Our March article of the month explores recent approaches to industrial relations and labour law, in particular the approach of the Australian Labour government that took office in 2022. They contrast this to those taken in formative eras in IR – the creation of the foundation IR laws in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the more recent business-oriented approaches to labour regulation of the 1990s. Among a series of valuable insights, this draws attention to the roles of parliamentary inquiries and union campaigns in shaping this new IR paradigm, and allows an opportunity to unpick the ability of these non-state actors to operate strategically within the strictures of a neoliberal state and economy. Secondly, they situate the creation of the new IR paradigm in the wider political agenda of the Albanese Government, identifying relationships with immigration and industrial policy as important shaping factors. This is a paper rich with insights that stands as a masterclass in using historical approaches.