Papua New Guinea labour delegation in Australia: tripartite group studies industrial relations, Australian labour market governance and institutions

ILO News: A tripartite delegation from Papua New Guinea (PNG) has travelled to Australia to study that country’s industrial relations institutions in advance of an anticipated enactment of a Bill to reform PNG’s industrial relations laws.

Press release | 29 April 2011

ILO News: A tripartite delegation from Papua New Guinea (PNG) has traveled to Australia to study that country’s industrial relations institutions in advance of an anticipated enactment of a Bill to reform PNG’s industrial relations laws.

The study was facilitated by the International Labour Organization’s Country Office for South Pacific Island Countries and is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian Government – ILO Partnership Agreement 2010-2015 and the Global Jobs Pact Framework for Pacific Labour Governance and Migration.

PNG’s Industrial Registrar, Ms Helen Selau led the ten person delegation, comprising eight Government officials from PNG’s Department of Labour and Industrial Relations and the State Solicitors Office, plus an Executive Member of the Trade Union Congress and the Chief Executive Officer of the PNG Employers’ Federation. The group traveled to Melbourne and Canberra.

The anticipated reform Bill includes the re-organisation of the roles and functions of PNG’s Department of Labour and Industrial Relations and the establishment of new industrial institutions including an Industrial Relations Commission and a Minimum Wage Commission.

The visit has allowed the delegation to learn how industrial institutions operate in Australia, principally Fair Work Australia, the Fair Work Ombudsman, the federal Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations and the Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission of Victoria.

The delegation also met with Australian Senator Jacinta Collins, the Parliamentary Secretary for School Education and Workplace Relations to discuss Australia’s experience in establishing a national workplace relations system for the private sector under the Fair Work Act 2009. Earlier, it met with officials from the Australian Council of Trade Unions to hear its perspective on current industrial dispute resolution mechanisms. The delegation has devoted special attention to dispute resolution processes, including conciliation and arbitration practices.

For further information please contact:

Ms Anne Boyd
Labour Law Expert
ILO Country Office for South Pacific Island Countries
Suva, Fiji
Tel: +679 331 3866

Allan Dow
Communications and Advocacy Officer
ILO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific
Bangkok, Thailand
Tel: +662 288 2057
Email