Background

The Australian industrial relations system has undergone many changes in the last two decades. The most dramatic change occurred on 27 March 2006 with the implementation of the WorkChoices industrial relations bill. Currently there is little comprehensive and rigorous statistical information to tell us how these changes have impacted on workers' employment arrangements and working conditions. This study aims to provide this information.

Objectives

This study will analyse the effects of the recent changes in the industrial relations law on working Australians. In particular it will:

document how, if at all, working lives change following the introduction of the changes;
examine how new forms of labour contract both drive and reflect these changes; and
provide authorative analysis to inform public debate on working life reform.

The primary research questions of interest to this project will be:

1. How, if at all, has Australian working life changed since March 2006?
2. How, if at all, has the nature of the lived reality of employment contracts for Australians changed?
   

The key hypotheses to be test are that:

1. While the industrial relations changes have been significant, they have not been the sole driver of changes in Australian working life. The other key policy areas shaping working life vary with the stage of the life course and include tax, education and training, as well as superannuation and social policies.
2. The working life experiences of many Australian workers can be classified as falling into a limited number of pathways for each of the four key working life transitions (i.e. moving between work and education/training, family formation, spells of unemployment and retirement).
3. The employment contract is changing dramatically and requires understanding different clusters of formal industrial instruments, forms of employment and informal workplace/enterprise customs and policies.