Employment Protection and Employment Promotion: The Contested Terrain of Australian Labour Law

20 Pages Posted: 26 Feb 2001

See all articles by Anthony O'Donnell

Anthony O'Donnell

La Trobe Law School

Richard Mitchell

Monash University - Department of Business Law & Taxation

Christopher Arup

La Trobe Law School

John Howe

University of Melbourne Law School

Joo-Cheong Tham

University of Melbourne

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the inter-relationship between employment promotion policies in Australia and labour law. Surveying recent trends in policy, it identifies the role that law has played in employment promotion in the past twenty years. It then examines the relationship between these recent developments and labour law's 'traditional' function of protecting people at work. The paper argues that both historically and currently Australian labour law has not been restricted to this 'traditional' function but has also been a part of overall economic policy regulating labour markets. The tension between 'protection' and wider economic imperatives represents the contested terrain of Australian labour law. The paper concludes by suggesting that the new challenge for labour law is to open up the discipline to include consideration of those wider laws that impact on people who are reliant upon their labour for a living, regardless of their position in the labour market.

Keywords: employment, protection, promotion, Australia, labour law, contested

JEL Classification: K31

Suggested Citation

O'Donnell, Anthony and Mitchell, Richard James and Arup, Christopher and Howe, John B and Tham, Joo-Cheong, Employment Protection and Employment Promotion: The Contested Terrain of Australian Labour Law. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=259952 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.259952

Anthony O'Donnell (Contact Author)

La Trobe Law School ( email )

La Trobe University
Bundoora, VIC 3083 3142
Australia
03 9479 1256 (Phone)

Richard James Mitchell

Monash University - Department of Business Law & Taxation ( email )

Caulfield Campus
Sir John Monash Drive
Caulfield East, Victoria 3084
Australia

Christopher Arup

La Trobe Law School ( email )

La Trobe University
Bundoora, VIC 3083 3142
Australia
61 3 9479 3083 (Phone)
61 3 9479 1607 (Fax)

John B Howe

University of Melbourne Law School ( email )

Centre for Employment & Labour Relations Law
Parkville, Victoria, 3010
Australia
61 3 9344 8924 (Phone)
61 3 9349 4623 (Fax)

Joo-Cheong Tham

University of Melbourne ( email )

185 Pelham Street
Carlton, Victoria 3053
Australia

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