Event and Ticketing Details
Dates & Times
Tuesday 25 February
6:15 PM - 7:15 PM
What is the future of trade unions in 21st century Australia?
Do they suit the needs of workers and the culture of employment in the times we live in?
Australian workers are facing unprecedented pressures: the mining boom may well be over, manufacturing and export companies are struggling or failing to remain competitive, and the newly elected federal government is disinclined to subsidise companies that can’t support themselves.
As Ford, Holden, Toyota and now Alcoa shut their factories in Australia, and Shell and others look likely to follow (with SPC Ardmona spared at the eleventh hour), thousands of workers will look to their unions for leadership and support. At the same time, a royal commission into union governance and corruption will absorb the time, money and focus of unions as they try to help their workers.
The Australian trade union movement has a proud past, but can it survive unchanged into the future?
Joining host Sally Warhaft for this discussion, our guests are Associate Professor John Howe (Deputy Dean of Melbourne Law School and Director of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law), Lisa Fitzpatrick (State Secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation), and Justice Alan Boulton AO (Senior Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission).
Featuring
Alan Boulton
Justice Alan Boulton is a Senior Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission (FWC).
After graduating with law degrees (LL.B and LL.M Hons.) from Sydney University, he worked in practice as a solicitor and then as a lecturer in the Faculty of Law at the Australian National University. In 1979 he was appointed the first Legal Officer with the Australian Council of Trade Unions. In February 1986 he was appointed as a Deputy President of the Australian Conciliation and Arbitration Commission. He was appointed as a Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) in February 1989 and as a Senior Deputy President in August 1992. He has also served as President of the Industrial Relations Commission of Victoria (1989-93) and as President of the Defence Force Remuneration Tribunal (1990-2000).
During 1998-99 Justice Boulton worked with the International Labour Organization (ILO) as a Senior Specialist in International Labour Standards and Labour Law based in Manila, Philippines. This mainly involved assisting the Indonesia in the development and drafting of new and modern labour laws and with the ratification and implementation of labour conventions. Between 2001 and 2010, he was the Director of the ILO Jakarta Office. The ILO Jakarta Office covers Indonesia and Timor-Leste and is the ILO’s liaison office for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). In this role, he was involved in the development and implementation of ILO programmes on child labour, industrial relations, labour administration, EEO, skills development and migrant workers and with the challenges involved in response to natural disasters and conflict - tsunami and earthquake programs in Indonesia and crisis response activities in Timor-Leste.
On Australia Day 2002, Justice Boulton was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). The citation for the honour was: “For distinguished service to industrial arbitration and labour relations at state and national level, to the Australian Defence Force, and to the development of labour policy and standards in the South East Asian region through the auspices of the International Labour Organization.”
John Howe
Associate Professor John Howe is Deputy Dean of the Melbourne Law School, where he is also Co-Director of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law. John teaches in the areas of labour and employment law, corporations law and corporate social responsibility.
His recent research has been focused on regulatory compliance mechanisms in labour law and corporate governance. In addition to a major research project examining the role and impact of the Fair Work Ombudsman in enforcing employment standards, he recently co-authored a report on the historical and current role of trade unions in the enforcement of employment standards in Australia.
John was Secretary of the Australian Labour Law Association between 2005 and 2009. He is a member of the Editorial Committee of the Australian Journal of Labour Law.
Lisa Fitzpatrick
Lisa Fitzpatrick is currently the state secretary of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (Victorian Branch) and a registered nurse. She held various nursing positions over her nursing career in the public and private sectors.
Lisa has also held various positions with the ANMF, both at state and national levels. She has recently been re-elected to the state secretary position, an elected role she has held since December 2001.
During Lisa’s time as secretary, membership of the Victorian Branch has grown from 32,000 to 68,800.
Sally Warhaft
Sally Warhaft is a Melbourne broadcaster, anthropologist and writer. She is the host of The Fifth Estate, the Wheeler Centre’s live series focusing on journalism, politics, media, and international relations, and The Leap Year ...