Melbourne Law School - Research Publications
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ItemWorld Employment and Social Outlook: The Role of Digital Labour Platforms in Transforming the World of Work(International Labour Organisation, 2021)Technological innovation is transforming every part of our lives. The ability to quickly and cheaply exchange large amounts of data and information has laid the foundations for the rise of the digital economy and digital labour platforms. In both developed and developing countries businesses and consumers have embraced this transformation, as services and goods are delivered in ways that are cheaper and more convenient. Digital labour platforms are now part of our everyday lives. This transformation extends to the world of work. Digital labour platforms offer new markets for businesses and more income-generating opportunities for workers, including those who were previously outside the labour market. Such platforms are leading to changes not just to the organization of enterprises and work processes but in many cases to the relationship between workers and businesses as well.
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ItemTrade Unions and the Enforcement of Minimum Employment Standards in Australia: Research Report(Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, 2014-07-01)
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ItemThe Transformation of Enforcement of Minimum Employment Standards in Australia: A Review of the Fair Work Ombudsman's Activities from 2006-2012(Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law, 2014-07-01)
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ItemMandate, Discretion, and Professionalisation in an Employment Standards Enforcement Agency: An Antipodean Experience(Wiley - John Wiley & Sons, 2013)In recent years, there has been a resurgence of scholarly interest in the operation and effect of labour inspectorates around the world. This article aims to contribute to this mounting comparative and socio-legal literature by considering the emergence of an active and high-profile enforcement agency in Australia—the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO). Drawing on the experiences of inspectors and senior managers at the FWO, we examine the structure and mandate of the agency, as well as the discretion afforded to, and the professionalisation of, individual inspectors. While some have sought to draw a distinction between a rule-bound, specialised approach characteristic of certain Anglo-American countries and the so-called Franco-Iberian model, which places a greater emphasis on flexibility and pragmatism, we found that the FWO does not necessarily fit neatly within this dichotomy. Rather, we observe that as the FWO is a new institution, its mode of operation is in the process of evolution. At present it is pluralistic, in the sense that it exhibits a hierarchical, procedural approach in a drive to address concerns of consistency and accountability, while at the same time allowing, and sometimes encouraging, individuals to be experimental and adaptive.
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ItemLess Energetic but More Enlightened? Exploring the Fair Work Ombudsman's Use of Litigation in Regulatory Enforcement(The University of Sydney Law School, 2013)Since early 2006, the federal labour inspectorate, now known as the Fair Work Ombudsman ('FWO'), has been both active and innovative in promoting and enforcing employment standards. While various enforcement tools are available to the FWO, civil remedy litigation has been an especially visible aspect of the agency's compliance activities. This article surveys the litigation activities of the federal labour inspectorate from I July 2006 to 30 June 2012. We explore the extent to which litigation has fluctuated over the past six years; the types of contraventions that have been pursued; the characteristics of respondents; and any patterns in remedies and outcomes. We consider the extent to which the FWO's changing approach to litigation reflects influential approaches to regulatory enforcement, including responsive regulation and strategic enforcement. Our assessment of the data suggests that the FWO has made increasing use of civil remedy litigation and the deterrence effects of this intervention have been amplified through prominent use of media. While the agency has become bolder in its use of litigation by targeting a wider range of individuals and entities, there is still some room to seek alternative court sanctions in order to achieve greater deterrence and more sustainable compliance behaviour.
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ItemEconomic Globalization and Convergence in Labor Market Regulation: An Empirical Assessment(American Society of Comparative Law, 2012)A major question for the comparative analysis of industrial relations and labor market institutions has been the extent to which labor laws in different countries have converged or diverged over time. A second question is whether any convergence between labor law systems is associated with economic globalization. Using a new measure of the “protective strength” of a country’s labor market regulation (the Longitudinal Labor Regulation Index), this study compares the evolution of labor laws in six countries (Australia, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and the United States) for the period 1970 to 2005. We assess whether there has been a convergence in the protective strength of labor market regulation between these countries or ongoing divergences between them. In particular, we test whether there is evidence of “formal” or “functional” convergence, “weak” or “strong” convergence, “simple” or “bipolar” convergence, and whether convergence is associated with globalization and economic integration between the countries included in our study. Our analyses show that over the period from 1970 to the mid-1980s the protective strength of labor laws actually diverged, but began to converge thereafter. Although we find evidence of both formal and functional convergence during this later period, this propensity has been weak, and tended toward a pattern of “bipolar convergence.” At the same time, the data do not indicate that any of these processes of convergence were associated with an “Americanization” of labor law, or a race to the bottom.
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ItemTIME AND MONEY UNDER WORKCHOICES: UNDERSTANDING THE NEW WORKPLACE RELATIONS ACT AS A SCHEME OF REGULATION(UNIV NEW SOUTH WALES, FAC LAW, 2006)
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ItemChina's legal protection of workers' human rights(Hart Publishing, 2010)
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