Employee Relations in Australia: Key Actors and Legislative Change

Introduction

The best way to analyze the current situation of employer–worker relationships in Australia is by assessing three key legislative acts governing the work-site environment. These are the Queensland Work Health and Safety Act (2011), the Petroleum and Gas (Production and Safety) Act (2004), and the Western Australian Mines Safety and Inspection Act (1994). The focus will be on employer–worker relations across these acts, and an investigation will be conducted into whether any improvement or change can be identified. A discussion of any changes that did occur will then follow.

Three Key Workplace Safety Acts

This act stipulates that the health and safety of workers and all persons must be ensured to the fullest extent possible. This means taking into account all relevant matters, including:

1. The likelihood of the hazard or risk occurring; 2. The degree of harm that might result from the hazard or risk; 3. What the person concerned knows, or ought reasonably to know, about the hazard or risk and the ways of eliminating or minimising it; 4. The availability and suitability of ways to eliminate or minimise the risk.

The person conducting the business must expend all necessary costs in addressing the above. This can be done in conjunction with managers from other businesses, but they must regularly consult with one another about ways to decrease the degree of harm in the workplace and eliminate risk. They must also consult with their workers to ensure that regulations are meeting required standards and worker comfort. Unresolved issues are referred to the regulator.

This act prescribes that "officials" carry a positive duty of care in both the private and public sector. The definition of "officials" includes directors, company secretaries, partners, officeholders, those involved in making decisions that affect the whole or a substantial part of the business or undertaking, and those with the capacity to significantly affect the organisation's financial standing.

Officers must possess thorough and comprehensive knowledge of resources and processes, the nature of the work performed on site, and the legal principles of safety and compliance with health regulations. They must also act in a timely manner. Their duty is proactive, as is that of the workers on site. Workers too must be proactive in taking care of their own health and safety, in complying with policies and instructions, and in ensuring that they do not harm others. Officials may also direct workers to cease work if they notice or suspect something wrong in the workplace, or if conditions do not conform to existing laws.

Privileges accorded to workers include the right to request the formation of multiple work groups in order to ensure that safety needs are being met. Penalties for non-compliance are severe. Union inspectors are also given broad rights and powers in enforcing the laws, including powers of entry and the ability to enforce recommendations to improve the work site (Queensland Government, Workplace Health and Safety Queensland, 2011).

The main purpose of this act is to facilitate and regulate the carrying out of responsible petroleum activities and the development of a safe, efficient, and viable petroleum and fuel gas industry in a way that: (a) manages the State's petroleum resources in a manner that has regard to the need for ecologically sustainable development and for the benefit of all Queenslanders; (b) enhances knowledge of the State's petroleum resources; and (c) creates an effective and efficient regulatory system for the carrying out of petroleum activities and the use of petroleum and fuel gas.

In other words, all aspects of this act are dedicated to regulating and optimising petroleum mining activities to ensure they are carried out in a responsible and safe manner and that workers are duly compensated for their labour. The act does not deliberate extensively on workers' rights, merely stating that workers must be treated fairly, that minimum conditions of workplace safety and health must be maintained, that workers should receive their rightful compensation, and that all avenues for adjudication should be available.

Recent Changes in Employee Relations

This act covers mines, quarries, and exploration in the mining industry and contains obligations similar to those found in the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1984. The act imposes general duties but also adds more specific duties for securing the safety and health of people in the industry and for assisting employers and managers in reducing hazards. This extends to protecting employees against all risks and giving employees an active voice in formulating workplace decisions and regulations that affect them.

A Mines Occupational Safety and Health Advisory Board is placed in charge of ensuring that duties are met and of advising the Minister for Minerals and Energy on safety and health matters. Inspectors working for the Board inspect sites daily to ensure compliance with regulations. General duties are placed on employers, managers, and suppliers, and criminal penalties apply if violations occur.

Managers must ensure that safety is accorded to the extent that is "reasonably practicable" (s9). Safety precautions extend not only to employees but to anyone who may be affected by the activities of the industry. Employees are also required to take reasonable care that they do not jeopardise their own health and safety, and certain obligations are extended to both employees and to the conditions of the mines.

The evolution of these acts and an examination of their content reveals the differences in worker–employer relations across recent decades. The Queensland Work Health and Safety Act dates from 2011, the Production and Safety Act from 2004, and the Western Australian Mines Safety and Inspection Act from 1994. The 2011 act goes to the fullest extent possible, requiring the person conducting the business to expend all necessary costs in ensuring full compliance with health and safety — even beyond possible accountability — in contrast to the Mines Act of 1994, where no such exertion was required. The 2004 Production and Safety Act barely touches on workers' rights but reflects the spirit of its time in that fundamental privileges, conditions, and workers' rights and safety had to be maintained. There appears to have been very little change between the 1994 and 2004 acts.