Recent news

Latest items of recent news relevant to Australia as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.

Australia: Banking Royal Commission report

Although the Banking Royal Commission report has been a bit of a dud, it does contain one important recommendation for employees …

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Australia: Managers and Professionals have highest hourly earnings

According to latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the average hourly wage for all employees in May 2018 was $39 …

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Australia: Is a contractor liable for redundancy pay in a contract services company

In a contract services company, should an employee’s employment contract end when a client contract comes to an end – and is the contractor then liable for redundancy pay?  These questions hang in the air following a number of cases involving the Australian company ‘Spotless’ …

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Australia: The Australian Modern Slavery Act has passed

The national parliament has now passed the Australian Modern Slavery Act (Newswire May 17th, 2018) …

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Australia: Domestic violence leave now an entitlement

An amendment to the Fair Work Act has brought into force a new right for all workers who are victims of domestic violence to take up to five days’ unpaid leave …

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Australia: 15% of employees are trade union members

New data recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show that in August 2018, 15% of employees reported being a member of a trade union in their main job …

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Australia: Broadreach Services ordered to pay $150,000 to former general manager

A video-conferencing company, Broadreach Services, has been ordered to pay AUD$150,000 (approx …

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Australia: Full federal court decision a reminder that ‘casual’ employees may actually be permanent staff

Following a case reported by FedEE in August concerning a casual truck driver who was entitled to annual leave, another recent Federal Court decision in Queensland has come to a similar conclusion …

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Australia: Wages rise 0.6% in the September quarter 2018

According to the latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), over the year to September 2018, seasonally adjusted wages and salaries in the private sector rose by 2 …

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Australia: TPP to take effect following Australia’s ratification

The Australian parliament has just voted to become the sixth signatory of the Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) …

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Australia: New migrants may have to live in rural areas

A proposal to force new migrants to live outside Sydney and Melbourne has recently been unveiled by the Australian government, in a move to ease the growing urban population crisis and boost regional areas …

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Australia: Barnaby Joyce sexual harassment investigation unable to reach conclusion

A dire warning about the dangers of keeping the handling of sexual harassment cases to internal disciplinary procedures is well illustrated in the recent highly publicised case concerning the politician Barnaby Joyce …

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Australia: When can employers reject a medical certificate?

In a recent case, the Fair Work Commission has pointed out that employers are not always obliged to accept medical certificates, especially when these are vague and do not indicate a specific course of action …

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Australia/Canada: Canadians and Australians up to the age of 35 can soon access working holiday permits

A revised reciprocal agreement on the issue of working holiday visas has increased the maximum age of applicants from 31 to 35 …

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Australia: Wages rise 0.6% in the June quarter 2018

Two sets of pay figures have just been published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) …

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