Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+

AustraliaEquality, diversity and inclusionEmployment contractsLong-service awardsGlobal HR

Australian employment law: 10 key features

by Qian Mou 24 Mar 2017
by Qian Mou 24 Mar 2017 Chameleons Eye/REX/Shutterstock
Chameleons Eye/REX/Shutterstock

Generous leave entitlements and a unique legal framework characterise Australian employment law. Qian Mou highlights 10 interesting aspects of workplaces down under.

1. Modern awards

Minimum entitlements for employees in particular sectors and occupations are set out in modern awards. There are currently 122 of these awards in force and most industries are covered by one.

Employment law in Australia

Contracts of employment
Employee rights
Equal opportunities
Health and safety
Industrial relations
Pay and benefits
Recruitment and selection
Termination of employment
Training and development

Also available: Employment law in Australia (US version)

Modern awards generally cover minimum wage, hours of work, annual leave and overtime pay, along with other significant terms.

2. Enterprise agreements

Enterprise agreements contain terms and conditions negotiated between an employer and a trade union or group of employees.

Modern awards do not apply to employees who covered by an enterprise agreement. However, employees will be better off overall under the enterprise agreement than under the modern award.

3. Parental leave of 24 months

Employees with at least 12 months’ continuous service are entitled to take up to 12 months of unpaid parental leave in connection with the birth or adoption of a child.

After taking parental leave, the employee may request up to 12 months’ additional leave, although this request may be refused on reasonable business grounds.

4. Long service leave

Employees are entitled to a lengthy period of paid leave after a significant period of continuous service. This can range from six weeks’ leave after seven years’ service, to thirteen weeks’ leave following 10 years’ service, depending on the employee’s state or territory of employment.

Employees may be entitled to a pro rata payment in lieu of their accrued long service leave if their employment is terminated.

5. Personal/carer’s leave

Full-time employees are generally entitled to 10 days’ paid personal/carer’s leave per year, which can be used in the case of personal illness or to care for family members.

Personal/carer’s leave accrues over the course of a year and carries over to subsequent years if it is not used.

6. Transfers of undertakings

Employment relationships do not transfer automatically following the sale of a business. Rather, new owners of a business may offer employment to some or all of a workforce following a sale.

In some circumstances, terms and conditions of employees set out in enterprise agreements or modern awards will continue to apply.

New employers may be required to recognise an employee’s prior length of service for the purpose of calculating workplace entitlements.

7. Unfair dismissal

Certain employees are eligible for unfair dismissal protection. One condition of eligibility is continuous employment for six months, or one year if their employer has with fewer than 15 employees (a small business).

A dismissal is unfair if it is harsh, unjust or unreasonable, is not a genuine case of redundancy (if redundancy is claimed), or in the case of small businesses, is not consistent with the Small Business Fair Dismissal Code.

8. Redundancy payments

Certain employees who are dismissed on the grounds of redundancy are entitled to statutory redundancy pay ranging from four to 16 weeks’ pay, or to amounts set out in applicable modern awards or enterprise agreements.

Employees with less than one year of continuous service or employees of small businesses are not entitled to statutory redundancy pay.

9. Notice periods

Employees are generally entitled to statutory minimum notice of termination by the employer.

In practice, it is normal for contracts of employment to provide for a longer period of notice by the employer.

10. Gender equality indicators

Employers (other than public authorities) with 100 or more employees are required to report on gender equality indicators annually.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Employers must provide information on the gender composition of the workforce; equal remuneration between women and men; availability and use of flexible working arrangements; consultation with employees on gender equality issues; and sex-based discrimination in the workplace.

Employers (other than public authorities) with 500 or more employees must put in place additional policies and strategies to achieve objectives related to the equality indicators.

Qian Mou

Qian Mou is an employment law editor at XpertHR. She is qualified as a lawyer in England and Wales, and Ontario, Canada. Prior to joining XpertHR, Qian worked as a private practice lawyer specialising in employment law and as an HR consultant at a national bank in Toronto.

previous post
HR Tech World 2017: What does Brexit mean for HR?
next post
Gender pay gap: women could shun employers over “unequal pay”

You may also like

Fewer workers would comply with a return-to-office mandate

21 May 2025

Redefining leadership: From competence to inclusion

21 May 2025

Consultation launched after Supreme Court ‘sex’ ruling

20 May 2025

Black security manager awarded £360k after decade of...

20 May 2025

Immigration white paper: which jobs will be affected?

19 May 2025

Union rep teacher awarded £370k for unfair dismissal

15 May 2025

EHRC bows to pressure and extends gender consultation

15 May 2025

Tribunal finds need for degree in redundancy selection...

14 May 2025

Culture, ‘micro-incivilities’ and invisible talent

14 May 2025

Immigration white paper: 10 key points and reaction

12 May 2025

  • 2025 Employee Communications Report PROMOTED | HR and leadership...Read more
  • The Majority of Employees Have Their Eyes on Their Next Move PROMOTED | A staggering 65%...Read more
  • Prioritising performance management: Strategies for success (webinar) WEBINAR | In today’s fast-paced...Read more
  • Self-Leadership: The Key to Successful Organisations PROMOTED | Eletive is helping businesses...Read more
  • Retaining Female Talent: Four Ways to Reduce Workplace Drop Out PROMOTED | International Women’s Day...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
OHW+
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Wellbeing
    • Recruitment & retention
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise
  • OHW+