Panel discussion, 2026 AIRAANZ conference, Sydney

Six of Australia’s leading industrial relations scholars have published an important new book on the history, evolution, and prospects of industrial relations policy in Australia.

The book, Work and Industrial Relations Policy in Australia, is co-authored by Bradon Ellem, Chris F. Wright, Stephen Clibborn, Rae Cooper, Frances Flanagan, and Alex Veen. Published by Bristol University Press, it is available in print and digitally through both domestic and international book sellers.

Several of the co-authors have collaborated with previous Centre for Future Work research projects, and 2 (Chris Wright and Frances Flanagan) serve on the Centre’s Board of Directors.

To acknowledge the book’s significance as a resource for students, researchers, and practitioners of industrial relations, a special panel was organised to launch the book at the 2026 conference of the Association of Industrial Relations Academic of Australia and New Zealand (AIRAANZ).

The book was launched with a speech by Sarah Kaine, Member of the Legislative Council of NSW and former associate professor at the Management Discipline Group at University of Technology Sydney.

The panel then featured commentaries by 3 experts, commenting on the book’s significance and key findings. These speakers included Sara Charlesworth (Professor Emerita in the College of Business & Law at RMIT, and a member of the Centre for Future Work Advisory Committee); Anthony Forsyth (Senior Legal Officer at the Australian Council of Trade Unions, currently on leave as Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School of Business & Law at RMIT, and former member of the Advisory Committees for both the Centre for Future Work and the Carmichael Centre); and Jim Stanford (former Director, and current Voluntary Chair of the Board of the Centre for Future Work).

Finally, the panel closed with a rejoinder from one of the book’s co-authors, Frances Flanagan (Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law at UTS).

Given the book’s significance, and the close links between the Centre for Future Work and several of its co-authors and panelists at the launch, we are honoured to publish this compendium of the 5 presentations at the AIRAANZ panel. Click through on the images below to read the authors’ remarks.

For more information, a detailed scholarly review of the book by Jim Stanford was published in the U.S.-based academic journal, ILR Review.