Mediation and Conciliation in Collective Labor Conflicts in Australia

Collective labour conflict has been mediated in Australia through industrial courts and tribunals, with members drawn from across the industrial/labour relations spectrum. Until the late 1980s, they were empowered to do whatever was required to conciliate disputes, and when that failed, to refer the parties for compulsory arbitration. Thereafter, the legal role of the tribunals changed, as has the nature and number of disputes before it. Mediation of collective labour conflict is now limited to specific circumstances, i.e., disputes of rights; in disputes of national economic or social importance; or when the parties seek to prevent future disputes, and improve relationships.