THE CONSTITUTION AND A NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS REGIME

Abstract

[The federal Government is proposing to bring about a single national scheme for the regulation of industrial relations in Australia. This will raise a number of important constitutional questions that may need to be resolved by the High Court. These questions as examined in this article are: could a single national law for the regulation of industrial relations be passed under a head of Commonwealth power (in particular, under the Commonwealth's powers over corporations, interstate trade and commerce or external affairs); even such a law could so be enacted, would it nevertheless be struck down due to an express or implied constitutional limitation; and to what extent could the law override the State laws that already govern much of the field?]