Australia

LABOUR RIGHTS INDEX 2022

Trade Union Indicator

The Labour Rights Index 2022 (LRI 2022) is a de-jure index covering 135 economies and structured around the working lifespan of a worker. In total, 46 questions or evaluation criteria are scored across 10 indicators. The overall score is calculated by taking the average of each indicator, with 100 being the highest possible score. The Index uses a rating system, ranging from “Total Lack of Decent Work” to “Decent Work”. The Labour Rights Index aims at an active contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, by providing necessary (complementary) insights into de jure provisions on issues covered in particular by SDG8 (Decent Jobs), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities) and SDG 16 (Strong Institutions). The Index is based on national labour legislation, applicable on 1 January 2022. The Index does not take into account COVID-19 related labour market measures in its scoring.

The legal data refers to the legislation applicable to the most populous state (New South Wales, Australia). Different rules may apply in other jurisdictions, necessitating review of other sources. Following this approach, Australia’s overall score is 77 out of 100. The overall score for Australia is higher than the regional average observed across Oceania (61.33). Within the Oceania region, the highest score is observed for Australia.

Australia ratified Convention No. 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise (1948) in 1973 and Convention No. 98 on the Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining (1949) in 1973.

Labour Rights Index 2022

77/100

LRI Country Score

75/100

Trade Union Indicator

13.66 %

Trade union density rate (%)

61.2 %

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)

0.69

SDG indicator 8.8.2

4

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings

Question

Answer

Score

Legal Basis

Violation

Does the law allow workers to form and join unions of their own choice?

Yes

1 §303-304 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 No 17; Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009

No Violation Found

Does the law allow workers to bargain collectively with employers through their representative unions?

Yes

1 §28-47 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 No 17

No Violation Found

Does the law provide for the right to strike?

No

0 §423-427 of the Fairwork Act 2009; CEACR C87 Obs. 2020

Does the law prohibit employers from terminating employment contracts of striking workers?

Yes

1 §416A of the Fairwork Act 2009; §143 of the Industrial Relations Act 1996 No 17

No Violation Found

Textual sources

A : National Law

National Labour Legislation

B : CEACR

CEACR: ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (latest report)

C : ITUC

ITUC: ITUC Global Rights Index 2022

D : USDOS

USDOS: US Department of States' Country Reports on Human Rights Practices 2021

LRI Country Score
The Labour Rights Index has 10 indicators and 46 sub-indicators. The LRI Country score averages 10 indicators and ranges between 0 and 100. The lowest and highest scorers are Nigeria (29/100) and Belgium/Greece (96/100). https://labourrightsindex.org/

Trade Union Indicator
The trade union indicator is composed of 4 sub-indicators. Scoring is done through the binary method (0 or 1). The score ranges between 0-100.

Trade union density rate (%)
The trade union density rate conveys the number of union members who are employees as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on trade union density, please check ILOSTAT.

Collective bargaining coverage rate (%)
The collective bargaining coverage rate conveys the number of employees whose pay and/or conditions of employment are determined by one or more collective agreement(s) as a percentage of the total number of employees in the country. For updated statistics on collective bargaining coverage, please check ILOSTAT.

SDG indicator 8.8.2
SDG indicator 8.8.2 measures national compliance with fundamental labour rights (freedom of association and collective bargaining or FACB). It ranges from 0 to 10, with 0 being the best possible score (indicating higher levels of compliance with FACB rights) and 10 the worst (indicating lower levels of compliance with FACB rights). It is based on six ILO supervisory body textual sources and national legislation.
For an updated assessment on SDG indicator 8.8.2, please check ILOSTAT.

ITUC Global Rights Index 2022 Ratings
The ITUC Global Rights Index depicts the world’s worst countries for workers by rating 148 countries on a scale from 1 to 5+ on the degree of respect for workers’ rights. Violations are recorded each year from April to March. For a detailed description of ratings and methodology, please follow the link.

To find an ITUC affiliate in your country, please check the LINK:

Violations

No Violation

Violations

No Violation

Violations

ILO Committee of Experts on Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR)

CEACR C87 Obs. 2020

The Committee notes that some of the services concerned in the cases where industrial action was either suspended or terminated (such as border control, court security and custodial services) may be understood to be essential services in the strict sense of the term or public servants exercising activity in the name of the State where strike action may be restricted.

The Committee recalls however that it does not consider oil refinery or railway transport to constitute services in which this right may be fully restricted, although the Government may consider the establishment of negotiated minimum services.
In the light of the above comments, the Committee requests the Government to keep it informed of any steps taken within the framework of the overall industrial relations reform process to review these provisions of the FWA.

Violations

No Violation