Neither Simple nor Fair - Restricting Legal Representation before Fair Work Australia

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
File version
Author(s)
Mourell, Mark
Cameron, Craig
Griffith University Author(s)
Primary Supervisor
Other Supervisors
Editor(s)
Date
2009
Size

146629 bytes

File type(s)

application/pdf

Location
License
Abstract

Fair Work Australia is the Commonwealth Government's proposed 'one-stop shop' for employment relations matters. An important feature of FWA is its unfair dismissal jurisdiction, which is supposedly designed to deliver a simpler, faster and less costly process by restricting legal representation of parties before FWA and instituting a mixed 'inquisitorial-adversarial' model of dispute resolution. This study examines whether restricting legal representation achieves the primary goal of Labor's substantive workplace relations reforms - fairness - by reference to three key elements: legal truth, costs and efficiency. Following this examination, the article finds that imposing further restrictions on legal representation undermines fairness because it creates an imbalance between costs, legal truth and efficiency. The article recommends that, subject to minor amendments aimed at improving the unfair dismissal process, the present statutory treatment of legal representation should remain.

Journal Title

Australian Journal of Labour Law

Conference Title
Book Title
Edition
Volume

22

Issue
Thesis Type
Degree Program
School
DOI
Patent number
Funder(s)
Grant identifier(s)
Rights Statement
Rights Statement

© 2009 Lexis Nexis. The attached file is reproduced here in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. Please refer to the journal website for access to the definitive, published version.

Item Access Status
Note
Access the data
Related item(s)
Subject

Labour Law

Business and Management

Policy and Administration

Law

Persistent link to this record
Citation
Collections