Reflections on Matters of Independence and Industrial Tribunals in Australia

Industrial tribunals in Australia have an important arbitral role. The integrity in the carriage of the role is founded on the precept of independence from undue pressure from external forces This paper suggests that actions by executive arms of government in Australia in recent years attacked that independence and that this has serious ramifications. Some of these actions have been overt. The attack on the Australian Industrial Relations Commission after its 1991 national wage decision is one example. Other actions, despite being more fundamental to the principle of independence, have gone largely unremarked. The focus in this paper is on some of these and the implications for a democratic society.