8th Annual Workforce Conference (21-22 September 2009 – Melbourne)
Conference papers and presentations
Chris Gardner
Partner, Freehills
Good Faith Bargaining – presentation (.ppt)
Natalie James
Chief Legal Counsel, Fair Work Ombudsman
Practical Impacts of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s combined agency powers and new discrimination jurisdiction – presentation (.ppt)
Practical Impacts of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s combined agency powers and new discrimination jurisdiction – paper (.pdf)
Michael Keenan
Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations
Labor’s Fair Work Changes Highlight the Inconsistencies of their Spin – paper (.pdf)
Jeff Lawrence
Australian Council of Trade Unions Secretary
How the New IR System is Shaping Up for Employers and Unions – paper (.pdf)
John Lloyd
Australian Building & Construction Commissioner
Reflections on the Australian Building and Construction Commission -presentation (.ppt)
Reflections on the Australian Building and Construction Commission – paper (.pdf)
Alexandra Marriott
Head of workplace relations, VECCI
Business Planning in a Financial Downturn, Including Alternatives to Redundancy - presentation (.ppt)
Dave Oliver
AMWU national secretary
Speech – paper (.pdf)
Henry Skene
Partner, Arnold Bloch Leibler
Good Faith Bargaining – presentation (.ppt)
Steve Smith
Director national workplace relations, Australian Industry Group
How Good Faith Bargaining is Playing Out in Workplaces: The Manufacturing Sector - presentation (.ppt)
Andrew Stewart
Professor of Law, Adelaide University
Preparing for the New Safety Net - presentation (.ppt)
Warren Stooke
Principal, Stooke Consulting Group
Managing the Union Relationship - presentation (.ppt)
Stuart Wood
Barrister at Law
Good Faith Bargaining – presentation (.ppt)
Stephen Woodbury
Partner, Blake Dawson
Navigating the New World of Unfair Dismissal and Workplace Rights – presentation (.ppt)
Speakers
Martin Pakula, Victorian Minister for Industrial Relations
Martin Pakula was elected to the Victorian parliament in the 2006 state election, at which time he was appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Ports. Following the resignation of Minister Theo Theophanous, Martin was appointed as Minister for Industry & Trade and Industrial Relations. Prior to entering parliament, he was an industrial officer with the National Union of Workers from 1993 and went on to become its Victorian secretary and national vice president. Martin studied at Monash University, during which time he became a leading member of Victorian Young Labor, having joined the Australian Labor Party in 1987. In his final year of university he won the Industrial Relations Law prize.
Nicholas Wilson, Fair Work Ombudsman
Nick Wilson is Australia’s Fair Work Ombudsman, having been appointed by the Governor-General for a five-year term starting July 1, 2009. He has responsibility for promoting compliance, as well as harmonious, productive and co-operative workplace relations. The Office of the Fair Work Ombudsman is a well-resourced, national organisation that provides advice about fair work practices, rights and obligations, with around 850 staff. Nick has significant workplace relations experience, having been the first Australian Workplace Ombudsman between 2007 and 2009, and the first director of the Office of Workplace Services from 2006 to 2007. In both roles, Nick was responsible for the national enforcement of Australia’s workplace relations laws.
Michael Lawler, Fair Work Australia member and Australian Industrial Relations Commission vice president
Michael Lawler is a member of Fair Work Australia and a vice president of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission. Prior to being appointed vice president in October 2002, Michael practised as a barrister in commercial, administrative, industrial and criminal law. He was admitted to practise in 1983 as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court of the ACT then as a solicitor of the Supreme Court of NSW in 1984. He worked as a prosecutor with the Commonwealth Director of Prosecutions in Canberra, and from 1990 as a solicitor in Sydney with the NSW Building Industry Royal Commission and the NSW Building Industry Taskforce before being admitted to the bar in August 1993. Michael is a portrait painter, with portraits hanging in the Supreme Court of the ACT. At the opening of the AIRC’s new Melbourne building in October 2006, his bust of Justice Richard O’Connor was unveiled.
John Lloyd, Australian Building & Construction Commissioner
John is the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner. He was appointed to the role in September 2005. The key role of the commissioner is to ensure that workplace relations laws are enforced in building and construction industry workplaces. Prior to this role, John held an appointment as Senior Deputy President of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission from August 2004 to September 2005. Much of John’s career has been as a senior public servant in the workplace relations field where he held a number of positions including Deputy Secretary of the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, and CEO of the WA State Department of Productivity and Labour Relations.
Michael Keenan, Shadow Employment & Workplace Relations Minister
Michael Keenan became the Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations in September 2008, having been elected to the House of Representatives for Stirling in Western Australia in 2004. He has been a member of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications, Information Technology and the Arts and the Joint Standing Committee on Migration since December 2004. Before being elected to parliament, Michael was a real estate property consultant from 2003 to 2004. Prior to that, he was a ministerial adviser to the Minister for Family & Community Services between 2001 and 2003, and the deputy director of the WA Liberal Party between 2000 and 2001.
Jeff Lawrence, Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary
Jeff Lawrence took over from Greg Combet as the secretary of the ACTU in August 2007, having served the Australian union movement for 30 years previously. Jeff formerly headed up one of Australia’s largest unions – the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union. In 2006, he participated in an ACTU overseas delegation that developed the union movement’s IR policy alternative to the Howard Government’s Work Choices laws. Prior to becoming secretary of the peak council, Jeff had been a senior member of the ACTU Executive, its governing body, for 10 years.
David Gregory, Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry director workplace policy
David Gregory is the Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s director of workplace policy, having been appointed to the role in June this year. His principal responsibilities are to develop and implement appropriate policies on behalf of ACCI and its member organisations in areas including workplace relations, occupational health and safety, human rights and equal opportunity, and superannuation. David was previously the head of workplace relations at the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry, and has worked for News Limited as a solicitor in general practice. He has also spent time working with a small trade union. David was awarded a Centenary Medal in 2000 for his work in the field of industrial relations.
Andrew Stewart, University of Adelaide Professor of Law
Andrew Stewart is the John Bray Professor of Law at the University of Adelaide and a consultant to the national law firm Piper Alderman. Widely acknowledged as one of the country’s leading experts in the field, his recent projects have included advising the federal government on the drafting and structure of its Fair Work legislation. Andrew’s many publications include Stewart’s Guide to Employment Law, the second edition of which deals with the Fair Work Act and is in the process of being published.
Dave Noonan, Construction, Forestry, Mining & Energy Union construction & general division national secretary
Dave Noonan is the national secretary of the construction and general division of the CFMEU, Australia’s largest construction union. He has been an organiser and industrial advocate with the Victorian Branch of the CFMEU and its antecedent the Building Workers’ Industrial Union since 1988. Dave has also held elected positions on the Branch Management Committee and the National Conference of the union for many years prior to becoming national secretary of the construction and general division in 2006. Dave is also a trustee of C-Bus, the superannuation fund for construction workers. Prior to becoming a union official, Dave was a construction worker
Stephen Woodbury, Blake Dawson partner
Stephen is the team leader at Blake Dawson’s Sydney office and has expertise across all aspects of employment law. He has expertise in preparing employment contracts, policies and procedures, corporate restructuring and outsourcing, disciplinary proceedings, dealing with ill and injured employees, enterprise bargaining and industrial disputes, breach of contract and independent contractor claims and unfair and unlawful dismissal claims.
Steve Smith, Australian Industry Group director national industrial relations
Steve Smith has worked for the Australian Industry Group for 20 years and is responsible for developing its workplace relations submissions and strategies, as well as lobbying the government and opposition over workplace relations issues. He plays a key role in developing and implementing strategies in response to major union campaigns. He was also a member of the award modernisation reference group, along with other representatives from employer groups and trade unions.
Warren Stooke, Stooke Consulting Group principal
Warren Stooke is the principal of the Stooke Consulting Group, a specialist consultancy in the labour relations area, and has represented the oil industry on the peak council of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the International Employers’ Association at the International Labor Organization in Geneva. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the National Institute of Labour Studies and the former group industrial relations manager and Canberra representative for Shell Australia.
Dave Oliver, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary
Dave Oliver is the national secretary of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU). He first became a member of the AMWU in 1981. He became an elected state organiser with the NSW branch in 1988 and assistant national secretary in 1996. In 2002, he became the secretary of the Victorian branch and in 2007 became the union’s national secretary. Dave established and is currently a director of the National Entitlement Security Trust (NEST), the first industry fund with national coverage to protect worker entitlements such as long service leave. Dave is on the board of AustralianSuper and is a member of the Automotive Industry Innovation Council.
Henry Skene, Arnold Bloch Leibler partner
Henry Skene is the head of Arnold Bloch Leibler’s workplace advisory practice, with more than 10 years’ experience in workplace relations. Henry specialises in workplace relations strategy, with particular emphasis on delivering value through workplace reform. His clients are from a range of industries including building and construction, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing and energy. He has also acted for various public sector bodies in relation to compliance issues and workplace reform. Earlier this year, Henry, along with Freehills partner Chris Gardner and barrister Stuart Wood, conducted a tour of the United States good faith bargaining system to draw lessons for employers in Australia.
Alexandra Marriott, Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry head of workplace relations
Alexandra Marriott joined VECCI earlier this year as its operations manager – workplace relations. Alex’s principal responsibilities are to develop and shape the workplace relations policies pursued by VECCI, and to manage the delivery of workplace relations services to VECCI members. Alex has a distinguished background in industrial relations, having previously worked in government, and for a number of employer associations. Having originally trained as a political scientist, Alex has a holistic understanding of many of the issues facing employers today.
Chris Gardner, Freehills partner
Chris Gardner is a partner in the Freehills Employee Relations Group. Chris provides legal and strategic advice in employment and industrial relations matters, including enterprise bargaining strategies and industrial disputation. Chris has widespread industry experience, with clients in a range of sectors including telecommunications, logistics, local government, manufacturing, stevedoring, mining and construction. Earlier this year, Chris, along with Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Henry Skene and barrister Stuart Wood conducted a tour of the United States good faith bargaining system to draw lessons for employers in Australia.
Stuart Wood, Barrister at Law
Stuart Wood is a publisher, commentator, and one of Australia’s leading industrial relations barristers. He has written extensively in the daily press, legal journals and at conferences of the HR Nicholls Society, Samuel Griffith Society and the Victorian Bar about legal and industrial matters, including policing failures during industrial disputes, the failure of some courts during industrial disputes, the failure of large companies to take advantage of industrial reforms and the High Court challenge to Work Choices. Earlier this year, Stuart, along with Freehills partner Chris Gardner and Arnold Bloch Leibler partner Henry Skene conducted a tour of the United States good faith bargaining system to draw lessons for employers in Australia.
Ian Jones, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union vehicle division national secretary
Louise Tarrant, Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union national secretary
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