A living database of new approaches to industrial relations

The Centre for Workforce Futures has entered into a long term collaboration agreement with the Australian national Fair Work Commission to explore and research a new perspective on collective bargaining and dispute resolution in Australian workplaces.

Known also as ‘interest based bargaining’, this approach involves the employer and the employees identifying common interests as they commence a new round of negotiations over the terms and conditions of work in their organisation. It is quite different to the traditional and often adversarial approach to determination of workplace matters.

Macquarie University, in collaboration with the Fair Work Commission, will create a database of information, case studies, methodologies, contacts and references to capture the essence of the new approaches. This will be a ‘living database’, accessible to researchers and practitioners alike. It will be housed at the University, but it will act a shared commons to anyone with an interest in this evolving and innovative view of industrial relations in Australia.

Professor Daryll Hull, Co-Director of the Centre said: ‘The debate over the best way of determining workplace conditions of employment will continue as long as there are workplaces and people in them. However, it’s possible to envisage a way of jointly optimising the interests of everyone involved. Interest-based bargaining is a pathway to better outcomes. This database will add to the ability of all stakeholders to make the journey. It will reach into all sectors of the economy and have a significant impact on the way things are done at work’.

Dr Daryll Hull
Professor, Faculty of Business and Economics
Co-Director, Centre for Workforce Futures