Remedies for unfair dismissal under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 - a fair go all round?

Background to unfair termination laws - remedies at common law - remedies for unfair termination under Federal Awards - overview of remedies under the Workplace Relations Act 1996 - compensation - reinstatement.

Labour law

Second edition university text discussing the principles of labour law, first published in 1999. Provides a comprehensive discussion of such topics as the employment relationship, termination of employment, the federal system of labour regulation and legal regulation of trade unions. Revised edition has been updated to reflect recent changes in the common law and under the Workplace Relations Act 1996. Features case examples, summary questions and graded exercises for students. Includes table of cases, table of statutes and index. Author is a Barrister and Solicitor and a lecturer in the School of Law at Deakin University.

Baker v The Queen & Fardon v Attorney General for the State of Queensland

In 2004, the High Court of Australia had cause to revisit its 1996 decision in Kable, as well as to consider the nature of judicial power as it relates to the deprivation of liberty, outside of the parameters of conventional criminal sentencing. The resulting decisions of Fardon and Baker demonstrate the lack of constitutional protections afforded to people who become the focus of governmental campaigns to be "tough on crime". The so-called "Kable principle", as construed by the High Court in 2004, may prove to be the "constitutional watch dog that barks but once".

Book review : Class act : Melbourne Workers Theatre 1987 - 2007

The article reviews the book "Class Act: Melbourne Workers Theatre 1987-2007," edited by Glenn D'Cruz.

Extending the Workers' Compensation Act 1987 (N.S.W.) to include independent contractors and to allow more highly paid workers to insure fully their income, with particular reference to engineers

In mid-1987, the existing workers’ compensation system in New South Wales was replaced by a new Scheme, called ‘WorkCover’. While WorkCover solved a number of the financial problems that had plagued its predecessor, its enactment created other issues. Furthermore, WorkCover has failed to deal with a number of gaps in providing compensation for occupational injuries, most notably those suffered by independent contractors. By combining a study of aspects of industrial law and industrial relations, this thesis will examine some of those problems and gaps, in particular: (a) Should WorkCover be amended to enable independent contractors to come within its ambit? (b) Should there be additional insurance cover available (known as ‘top-up’ insurance) to insure those parts of workers’ wages presently left unprotected by WorkCover? (c) Should workers be permitted to take out another form of ‘top-up’ insurance to increase the quantum of death cover presently provided by the Scheme? (d) Should independent contractors who arc permitted to enter WorkCover also be permitted to obtain the extended cover set out in (b) and (c) above? Where appropriate, the thesis compares WorkCover to the workers’ compensation schemes in other Australian jurisdictions. It develops each of the matters referred to above by referring to the results of the writer’s survey of members of the Institution of Engineers (NSW Branch) which was conducted in May and June 1991.

Bachelor of learning management initiatives : preferred and actual futures

It is argued in this chapter that we live in the knowledge economy, a term coined by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development in a report entitled The Knowledge Based Economy (1996). According to this report, the economy has become a hierarchy of networks fuelled by the rapid rate of change in all aspects of life, including learning, which in turn has compressed the world, encouraging the merging of the world's economic and cultural systems. Contemporary economic and social contexts coupled with competing perspectives on the "future" place significant demands upon educators and educational leaders who are increasingly expected to act in futures-oriented ways whilst also remaining true to the professional standards of their present environments (Faculty of Education and Creative Arts, 2003). In response to these issues and internal organisational reviews of Central Queensland University, the revision and renewal of a number of degrees currently being offered by the Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Education have become increasingly necessary. The Bachelor of Learning Management (BLM) is one program that is claimed to be a new and innovative pre-service teaching degree. This chapter explores a project that was undertaken to investigate current student perceptions of the extent to which the BLM has met these claims. Of particular interest was, firstly, student satisfaction with and achievement in the degree and, secondly, the extent to which the BLM has managed to broker the change needed to deliver the required client outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A review of 16 years of quality control parameters at a mass-rearing facility producing Queensland fruit fly, Bactrocera tryoni

From 1996 to 2012, the mass-rearing facility at Camden (NSW, Australia) has been producing Queensland fruit flies, Bactrocera tryoni (Froggatt) (Diptera: Tephritidae). During this time, the facility has regularly recorded fly quality parameters, creating a unique data set that provides an invaluable opportunity to evaluate the interrelationships among standard quality control (QC) parameters and test for redundant QC variables. Here, we conducted an exploratory data analysis to reveal relationships among the QC parameters. We found that pupal weight, adult lifespan, and longevity under nutritional stress (i.e., survival duration without food or water) had distinct monthly trends, suggesting that these QC parameters are sensitive to seasonal conditions. Furthermore, emergence percentage, flight ability, and adult lifespan were adversely affected by the dyeing/handling/irradiation process associated with sterile insect releases. Using a multivariate approach and controlling for monthly and yearly patterns, we showed that pupal weight and egg hatch are consistently negatively related and that percentage male and emergence rates are consistently negatively related. These results suggest that these correlation pairs measure similar quality information and hence one QC variable from each pair could be dropped. Flight ability was not strongly correlated with any of the QC variables, suggesting that this QC variable remains a useful QC metric. Finally, the longevity under nutritional stress QC appears to be fairly insensitive to QCs and we suggest that it should be replaced by the standard mortality under stress test.

Heart failure following cancer therapy in patients with hematological malignancies aged 18 years and under : a linked health data analysis (1996-2009)

Introduction: The causal link between chemotherapy treatments and subsequent cardiotoxicity is well established, particularly for children with hematological malignancies. Little information exists on the characteristics and outcomes for patients with heart failure (HF) after chemotherapy. This study aimed to describe the characteristics, survival and mortality of patients who received chemotherapy for hematological cancer (leukemias, lymphomas and related disorders) before 18 years old and subsequently developed HF compared to those who did not.

Methods: Linked health data (1996-2009) from the Queensland Cancer Registry, Death Registry and Hospital Administration records for HF and chemotherapy admissions were reviewed. From all breast and hematological cancers patients (n=73,158), 15,987 received chemotherapy, including 819 patients aged ≤18 years at time of cancer diagnosis. Patients were categorized as those with an index HF admission (occurred after cancer diagnosis) and those without an index HF admission (non HF).

Results: Of the 819 patients, 3.7% (n=30) had an index HF admission. Median age of HF patients at time of cancer diagnosis was 5 years (IQR 3-12) compared to 7 years (IQR 3-14) in the non HF group (p=0.503). Median follow up from cancer diagnosis was 2.5 years in the HF group compared to 5.42 years in the non HF group (p<0.01). Of those who developed HF, 70% (n=21) had the index admission within 12 months of their cancer diagnosis. Of those with HF, 53.3% (n=16) died (all cause) compared to 14.6% (n=115) with no HF. On adjustment for age, sex and chemotherapy admissions, HF patients had an almost 5 fold increased mortality risk compared to non HF patients (HR 4.91 [95% CI, 2.88-8.36]) (Figure 1).

Conclusions: This study demonstrated that in children with hematological cancers the onset of HF occurred soon after chemotherapy and mortality risk is almost 5 times that of children who do not develop HF. Innovative strategies are still needed for the prevention and management of cardiotoxicity in this population.