Support for "road tour" by Professor Tonia Novitz

The New Zealand Labour Law Society was delighted to be able to support a "road tour" by Professor Tonia Novitz of Bristol University in February 2024. Professor Novitz is a Professor of Labour Law at the University of Bristol Law School in the UK. A graduate of the University of Canterbury (Christchurch, New Zealand) and Balliol College, Oxford, she has held fellowships at the International Institute for Labour Studies (Geneva), the European University Institute (Florence), the University of Melbourne and the University of Auckland. From 2019 - 2023, she was chair of the steering committee of the international Labour Law Research Network (LLRN). She is currently a UK representative on the advisory board of International Lawyers Assisting Workers (ILAW), and a Vice President of the UK Institute of Employment Rights. She was a founding co-director of the Bristol Centre for Law at Work. Her research interests encompass collective labour rights, international and EU trade, sustainability and migration. Her publications have been cited in the Supreme Court of Canada and the UK Supreme Court. Recently, she has written on the relationship between sustainable development and labour standards in the gig economy, as well as the ways in which sustainable development chapters in EU free trade agreements may be enforced. As part of the "road tour" Professor Novitz visited Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch meeting with colleagues and students and presenting seminars at Auckland University, Victoria University of Wellington and Canterbury University.

ALLA 2024 National Conference- save the date

 

Assessing the Impact of Change and Reform in Australian Labour Law 8–9 November 2024, Novotel Geelong

The two-year period since the election of the Albanese Labor Government has seen momentous reforms to Australian workplace laws, including the Secure Jobs Better Pay Act passed in late 2022 and the Closing Loopholes Acts 2023 and 2024. The 2024 ALLA National Conference provides an opportunity for presenters to take stock of this seemingly relentless process of change, and consider the effects of the reforms on workers, businesses, unions, regulators and other stakeholders. Abstracts will be sought in early April for papers examining these and related reforms at a general level, or focusing on any of the following issues: Pay equity, equal remuneration orders, pay secrecy provisions. Measures to combat insecure work: fixed-term contracts, casuals, independent contractors (including statutory definition of employment). New positive duty to prevent sexual harassment. Collective bargaining, multi-employer bargaining and industrial action. Agreement-making and Fair Work Commission approval of agreements. Wage theft, new federal criminal offences and penalties, interaction with state laws. Gig/platform work regulation and AI/automation. Labour hire including ‘same job, same pay’ provisions and licensing schemes. Trade unions including new delegates’ rights. Road transport industry reforms. Flexible work requests, working from home and the right to disconnect. The impact of reforms on vulnerable worker groups, including young and migrant workers. New federal industrial manslaughter offence and other reforms to WHS laws. Competition issues in labour law, including collective bargaining for the self-employed & restraint/non-compete clauses. The changing roles of Fair Work Commission, Fair Work Ombudsman, Workplace Gender Equality Agency, anti-discrimination and health and safety agencies. Labour Law research methodologies and theories, researching labour law in practice. The 2024 conference organising committee consists of Anthony Forsyth, Shae McCrystal, Michael Rawling, Dominique Allen, Adriana Orifici, Emma Goodwin, Marilyn Pittard and Kelly Thomas.