Economics
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Research tasks
- Briefly outline the main functions of the Australian
Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC).
The functions of the AIRC are broadly summarised as:- facilitating agreement making between employers and employees or organisations of employees about wages and conditions of employment
- ensuring that a safety net of fair minimum wages and conditions of employment is established and maintained
- preventing and settling industrial disputes, so far as possible by conciliation, and where appropriate by arbitration, within the limits specified by the Workplace Relations Act 1996 [WR Act]
- facilitating equal remuneration for work of equal value
- conciliating claims for relief in relation to termination of employment, and if necessary, to arbitrate whether a termination is harsh, unjust or unreasonable
- deal with matters concerning organisations,
particularly registration, amalgamation, cancellation,
representation rights, alteration of eligibility rules and
change of name.
(Source: AIRC web site. Accessed 10/02/2003.)
- Describe the role of the ACCC
The following information is available at the ACCC web site: An Introduction to the ACCC
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission was formed on 6 November 1995 by the merger of the Trade Practices Commission and the Prices Surveillance Authority.
Its formation was an important step in the implementation of the national competition policy reform program agreed by the Council of Australian Governments.
An independent statutory authority, the Commission administers the Trade Practices Act 1974 and the Prices Surveillance Act 1983 and has additional responsibilities under other legislation. Under the national competition policy reform program the Trade Practices Act has been amended so that, with State/Territory application legislation, its prohibitions of anti-competitive conduct apply to virtually all businesses in Australia.
In broad terms, the Act covers anti-competitive and unfair market practices, mergers or acquisitions of companies, product safety/liability, and third party access to facilities of national significance. The Commission is the only national agency dealing generally with competition matters and the only agency with responsibility for enforcement of the Trade Practices Act and the associated State/Territory application legislation.
The Commission's consumer protection work complements that of State and Territory consumer affairs agencies, which administer the mirror legislation of their jurisdictions.
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