SAVE THE DATE 

The Fifth Annual Ron McCallum Debate

Tuesday 6 October 2015, 4pm to 6pm
Swissotel Blaxland Ballroom
Level 8, 68 Market Street
Sydney

Limited places – entry is free but bookings are essential
Please RSVP by Tuesday 29 September to admin@aierights.com.au or 03 9647 9111

Free to Associate? 

Join us for challenging and engaging discussion on the role of unions and employer organisations in the workplace relations system, our society and politics.

The annual Ron McCallum debate is a fixture on the IR calendar, bringing together hundreds of practitioners, arbitrators and academics.

In the past we have debated what justice at work looks like, productivity and the workplace relations system, the swing of the political pendulum, and the relationship between workplace relations and our society.

This year we will explore freedom of association: a fundamental right under increasing threat? The union movement is in the public spotlight with the Trade Union Royal Commission continuing and mired in controversy. The Senate rejection of the Registered Organisations Bill has set up a double dissolution trigger for the Government on the issue of union governance. The Productivity Commission’s Inquiry along with Australia Law Reform Commission’s Rights and Freedoms inquiry have implications for freedom of association.

The debate will be moderated by former FWA and AIRC President the Honourable Geoffrey Giudice AO, with Emeritus Professor Ron McCallum AO providing his reflections, and involving other expert commentators representing business, unions and the community soon to be announced.

Don’t miss what is sure to be a compelling debate.

Presented by the Australian Institute of Employment Rights, generously sponsored by Harmers Workplace Lawyers

  1. Executive Member, AIER
  2. Sean Scalmer is Professor of Australian History in the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at Melbourne University. Sean studied political economy and political science at the University of Sydney, before undertaking a PhD on intellectuals and class in the Australian labour movement. He worked as a research fellow in the Department of Politics, Macquarie University (1998-2004), then as a Lecturer in Sociology (2004-2006) at the same University. He joined the School of Historical Studies at the University of Melbourne in 2007. Sean’s major interests are in the histories of social movements, class, and democracy. orders for food delivery platform workers. [Bio from Sean Scalmer’s Melbourne University webpage]