Australian Labour Law Association (ALLA)
6th Biennial Conference
WORKING IN THE PUBLIC INTEREST
16 & 17 November 2012
Canberra l ACT l Australia
Hosted by the ANU College of Law
The Australian National University
program outline
FRIDAY
16 NOVEMBER
8.30am –
Registration
9am
Lake Michigan
Room
Introduction and housekeeping matters
Prof Andrew Stewart, ALLA President &
Cameron Roles, Chair 2012 ALLA Conference Committee
9.15 – 9.45am
Lake Michigan
Room
KEYNOTE 1
The Future Role of the Tribunal
Justice Iain Ross AO, President, Fair Work Australia
9.45 – 10.15am
KEYNOTE 2
Lake Michigan
Room
A Perspective from Europe
Prof Keith Ewing, King’s College, London
10.15 – 10.45am
KEYNOTE 3
Lake Michigan
Room
Old Dogs, New Tricks and Umpire Avoidance: 12 years of good
faith bargaining in New Zealand
Chief Judge Graeme Colgan, New Zealand Employment Court
10.45 – 11.15am
Morning tea in foyer
11.15am – 12.45pm
PANEL DISCUSSION
Lake Michigan
Room
Collective Bargaining Under the Fair Work Act
Panelists
Commissioner Barbara Deegan, Fair Work Australia
Assoc Prof Anthony Forsyth, RMIT
Stuart Wood SC, Victorian Bar
Mark Irving, Victorian Bar
12.45 – 1.45pm
Lunch in foyer
1.45 – 3.15pm
PARALLEL SESSIONS A & B
Lake Michigan
Room
A CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
The Development of the Concept of the ‘Public Interest’ in Australian
Labour Law
Richard Naughton, Monash University
Common Law versus Statutory Regulation of Individual Labour Rights in
Australia: How is the public interest best served?
Dr Vanitha Sundra-Karean, University of Southern Queensland
In the Public Interest: A practitioner’s plea for a simpler regulation of
workplace relations
Yaseen Shariff, Barrister, New South Wales Bar
Managerial Prerogative: Myth or fact
James Mattson, Bartier Perry
program outline
1.45 – 3.15pm
B EQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION ISSUES
Lake Huron
Room
General Protections: Adverse action, employee rights and
workplace management
Annie Smeaton, Cooper Grace Ward
Workplace Gender Equality: Prospects for change
Julie White, Justitia Lawyers & Consultants
Adverse Action, Discrimination and the Reverse Onus of Proof: Exploring the
developing jurisprudence
Anna Chapman, Beth Gaze & Kathleen Love, University of Melbourne
Public Interest, Recruiting Employees and Criminal Records’ Checks:
Policy and the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth)
Prof Marilyn Pittard, Monash University
3.15 – 3.45pm
Afternoon tea in foyer
3.45 – 5.15pm
PARALLEL SESSIONS C & D
Lake Michigan
Room
C BARGAINING AND INDUSTRIAL ACTION
Protected Action Ballot Orders: You can’t always get what you (only) want …
you have to (genuinely) try (every time) … to get what you need
Tracy Caspersz, Corrs Chambers Westgarth, Perth
The Regulation of Collective Bargaining: The effectiveness of majority
support determinations under the Fair Work Act
Sophie Turnbull, The Australian National University
Lockouts, the Fair Work Act and Playing the Game
Dr Louise Thornthwaite, Macquarie University &
Dr Elfriede Sangkuhl, University of Western Sydney
The Elusive Quest For Simplicity: An empirical study of the language of
enterprise agreements from 1993 to 2011
Carolyn Sutherland, Monash University
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Lake Huron
Room
D EMPLOYMENT CONTRACT LAW ISSUES
Damages for Breaching Mutual Trust and Confidence in Dismissing an
Employee: Should the Johnson exclusion area apply in Australia?
David Chin, Barrister, New South Wales Bar
Rationalising the Interaction between Statute and Common Law in the
Employment Context: A question of ‘necessity’ or ‘coherence’?
Pauline Thai, The Australian National University
Repudiation of Employment Contracts and Constructive Dismissal:
Where are we at?
Mark Rinaldi, Barrister Victorian, Tasmanian & Western Australian Bars
An Examination of ‘Loss of Chance or Opportunity’ and its Application to
Employment Law in Australia
Paul Murphy, Paul Murphy & Associates Lawyers
7 – 10.30pm
Conference Dinner, Lake Superior Ballroom (1st floor), Rydges Lakeside Hotel
Music by Triotet
Dress: neat casual
program outline
SATURDAY
17 NOVEMBER
8.30am –
Registration
9 – 10.15am
PLENARY SESSION
Lake Michigan
Room
When Can Persons Conducting a Business or Undertaking (PCBU) Rely on the
Expertise of Independent Contractors and Others in Order to Discharge its
Primary Duty of Care?
Prof Richard Johnstone, Griffith University & The Australian National University
Harmonisation of Australia's Occupational Health & Safety Laws: Much ado
about nothing?
Eric Windholz, Monash University
Recent Developments in New Zealand Labour Law
Prof Gordon Anderson, Victoria University of Wellington
10.15 – 10.45am
Morning tea
10.45am – 12.15pm
PARALLEL SESSIONS E & F
Lake Michigan
Room
E ENFORCEMENT ISSUES
The Regulatory Enrolment of Non-State Actors by the Fair Work Ombudsman:
An assessment of targeted compliance campaigns
Tess Hardy, University of Melbourne
The Fair Work Ombudsman and Non-compliance with Minimum Standards:
Detection, targeting and strategic enforcement
Sean Cooney, Tess Hardy & Assoc Prof John Howe, University of Melbourne
Comparing Accountability Standards for Federally Registered Industrial
Organisations, Federal Political Parties and Federal Charities
Steve O’Neill, Department of Parliamentary Services
Corporate Insolvency and the Protection of Lost Employee Entitlements:
Issues in enforcement
Assoc Prof Helen Anderson, University of Melbourne
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Lake Huron
Room
F
SPECIAL CATEGORIES OF WORKER: PUBLIC SERVANTS &
MIGRANT WORKERS
I Didn't Mean to be Mean: The perils of performance management in the
Australian Public Service
Andrew Klein, Clayton Utz
Redundancy in the Australian Public Service: Some critical reflections
Cameron Roles, The Australian National University
Equal Treatment for Temporary Migrant Workers and the Challenge of Their
Precariousness
Dr Iain Campbell, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology &
Assoc Prof Joo-Cheong Tham, University of Melbourne
program outline
Legally Precarious Temporary Migrant Work: An examination of common
regulatory challenges to employment security in Australia & Canada
Andrew Newman, University of Melbourne
Employment Rights for Those Working Beyond the Sphere of the Employment
Relationship
Adjunct Prof Marius Olivier, University of Western Australia
12.15 – 12.30pm
15-minute break
12.30pm
ALLA Annual General Meeting
Lake Michigan
Room
1pm
Conference close