The Howard Government has made it abundantly clear that it intends to utilise its new power in the Senate to “reform” Australia's workplace Industrial Laws, which will result in a number of your basic rights and conditions of employment being removed.

From 1 July 2005 the Federal Government has taken control of the Senate, giving it majority in both Houses of Federal Parliament.

The Federal Government now has the power to pass whatever laws it determines without being blocked or changed by the Senate.

The proposals will directly affect PSA/CPSU members.

Latest news is available at the PSA NewsFlash IR page which is here.

A downloadable Power-point presentation setting out what all this could mean for PSA/CPS members is available here.

A set of papers from the University of Sydney about the impact of the reforms is available here.

A detailed question and answer page is here.

Frequently Asked Questions regarding Australian Workplace Agreements is here.

Transcript of a speech on Federal IR by Michelle Bissett, ACTU Industrial Officer is here.