Efficiency and Equity at Work: The Need for Labour Market Regulation in Australia

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Abstract
The current reform objective of developing more competitive workplaces has been incorrectly identified with an alleged 'need' to 'deregulate' the labour market. An examination of current reform proposals reveals that there is an attempt to increase the importance of internal modes of regulation controlled by managers at the expense of external regulation such as awards. Such a development is likely to increase inefficiency and inequality in the labour market, as formal, external modes of regulation can promote both international competitiveness and fairness. Greater attention should be devoted to identifying better ways of linking external and internal modes of regulation to improve both efficiency and equity at work.