On 7 February 2022, Premier Anastasia Palaszczuk and Minister Grace Grace released the Five-year Review of Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 2016 report and the Queensland Government's response to the recommendations.
The review of Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 2016 (IR Act) was conducted by independent reviewers, Mr John Thompson, retired Queensland Industrial Relations Commissioner; and Ms Linda Lavarch, former Queensland Attorney-General.
The review aims to ensure Queensland's industrial relations jurisdiction, comprising mainly the State and local government sectors, continues to be fair and balanced.
The terms of reference for the review included workplace sexual harassment protections, casual and insecure work, minimum employment standards, effective representation of workers by unions, collective bargaining and pay equity mechanisms.
The review report includes 40 recommendations for the IR Act to better reflect evolving community standards for the workplace.
Background
On 3 May 2021, the Honourable Anastasia Palaszczuk, Premier and (then) Minister for Trade, and the Honourable Grace Grace, Minister for Education, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing announced a review of IR Act.
The IR Act was passed by the Queensland Parliament on 1 December 2016 with most provisions commencing on 1 March 2017. The Government considered that it was timely to review the operation and performance of the IR Act.