Issue 5—December 2008

About AIRC News

Welcome to issue 5 of AIRC News—a free, electronic newsletter available by subscription and from the AIRC website at www.airc.gov.au.

In each issue you will find news about the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) and its services. We welcome your feedback about this newsletter and the AIRC website. If you wish to contact us, please click here to send us an email.

The first awards to be finalised under the award modernisation process were published on Friday, 19 December 2008. The Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) created 17 ‘modern awards’ in 11 priority industries and occupations, however, the awards will not come into effect until 1 January 2010.

Legislation to establish a new, national industrial relations body is currently before the Australian Parliament.

In the Wages and Allowances Review for 2008, a Full Bench of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission decided to increase minimum weekly rates in transitional awards by $21.70 per week.

Two information packages—the 2007–08 annual reports and a video on unfair and unlawful dismissal—were released recently.

The number of Australian Industrial Relations Commission members holding primary appointments stands at 39 following the retirement of three members in recent months.

The Decisions by Subject list, a regular feature of AIRC News, is now updated to 5 December 2008. The list features AIRC decisions dating back to 1 July 2007—with hyperlinks to the actual decisions.

Did you know?

The AIRC website features a section dedicated to the award modernisation process.

Under the Full Bench proceedings tab, you will find statements and decisions of the Award Modernisation Full Bench, the overall timetable for award modernisation and dedicated websites for each of the four stages—accessible from the left-hand menu. When you click on the tab for a particular stage a new menu will open up providing access to documents and information related to that stage.

You can also receive email alerts about award modernisation by subscribing to our eSubs service.