Employment law in Australia
A new guide on employment law in Australia is the latest addition to our International manual, meaning we now provide employment law guidance on 44 countries across the world.
Australia is a federation of six states and two main territories and, until relatively recently, each state and territory had its own employment laws. However, in 2009, the federal Fair Work Act came into effect and now covers most Australian employees. It is the primary source of regulation of workplace relations across Australia, forming the basis for a "national system" of workplace relations. The provisions of the Act include a set of National Employment Standards (NES), providing minimum standards in areas such as maximum working hours, flexible working arrangements, annual leave, public holidays, parental leave, minimum notice of termination and redundancy pay.
The national system also provides for pay and conditions in defined sectors or occupations to be set by "modern awards", and for collective agreements known as "enterprise agreements". These both build on the NES, and play an important role in setting pay and conditions for many Australian employees.
The new guide provides information on:
- contracts of employment;
- employee rights;
- equal opportunities;
- health and safety;
- industrial relations;
- pay and benefits;
- recruitment and selection;
- termination of employment; and
- training and development.
