Australia

Authors: Paul Lorraine, Amy Zhang, Zeb Holmes, Julie Gordon & Benjamin Niciak As the dust settles from the recent federal election, the newly elected federal Labor Government will be seeking to reform some key aspects of Australia’s workplace relations system. Some of these changes are imminent, with others to be further developed in light of the recent “Jobs […]

Authors: Greg Robertson, Amy Zhang, Benjamin Niciak and Amelia Dowey Non-disclosure agreements (“NDAs”) may be restricted in Victoria under proposed reforms following a wide-ranging workplace sexual harassment review. The Victorian Government has also signalled support to ensure workplaces treat sexual harassment as an occupational health and safety issue. On 8 March 2021, the Victorian Government […]

Authors: Greg Robertson and Amelia Dowey The Fair Work Commission handed down a decision earlier this month that increased the national minimum wage by 5.2% for workers not covered by an award or registered agreement. Similarly, modern award minimum wages have been increased by 4.6% subject to a minimum increase for adult award classifications of […]

Authors: Emma Pritchard and Maria Markoulli In March 2020, the Australian Human Rights Commission (Australia’s national human rights institution) published its Respect@Work Report, making 55 recommendations to the Commonwealth Government (as well as states and territories, employers and industry groups) to prevent and address sexual harassment in the workplace. The focus of many of the […]

Authors: Jenny Inness and Justin Pen The Victorian Supreme Court has held that time limits under the Limitation of Actions Act 1958 (Vic) (“LOA Act”) do not apply to claims based on breaches of the Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic) (“EEO Act”) (the state of Victoria’s chief anti-discrimination legislation), such that there is no strict […]

Author: Justin Pen The High Court of Australia has clarified the proper approach to be taken when determining if a worker has been engaged as an ‘employee’ or an ‘independent contractor’, in cases where the parties’ contractual arrangements are wholly in writing. In Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union v Personnel Contracting Pty Ltd […]