New research on international collective bargaining systems finds that Australia’s industrial relations system is rapidly losing its ability to support wages in the face of numerous challenges.

Key findings:

• The Ardern government in New Zealand has implemented a new sector-wide bargaining system (‘Fair Pay Agreements’) that could be a model for similar changes in Australia
• NZ-style reforms could also improve the effectiveness of Australia’s pay equity legislation
• Nordic and continental European countries have used coordinated sectoral bargaining systems to enhance vocational training and technology adoption
• 600,000 workers have lost enterprise agreement coverage since end-2019

“The erosion of collective bargaining has been a major factor in Australia’s record-weak wage growth over the past decade,” said Alison Pennington, Senior Economist at the Centre for Future Work and co-editor of the special issue.

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New International Research Exposes Australia’s Missed Wage-boosting Opportunities