Journal article
Less Energetic but More Enlightened? Exploring the Fair Work Ombudsman's Use of Litigation in Regulatory Enforcement
T Hardy, J Howe, S Cooney
Sydney Law Review | The University of Sydney Law School | Published : 2013
Abstract
Since early 2006, the federal labour inspectorate, now known as the Fair Work Ombudsman ('FWO'), has been both active and innovative in promoting and enforcing employment standards. While various enforcement tools are available to the FWO, civil remedy litigation has been an especially visible aspect of the agency's compliance activities. This article surveys the litigation activities of the federal labour inspectorate from I July 2006 to 30 June 2012. We explore the extent to which litigation has fluctuated over the past six years; the types of contraventions that have been pursued; the characteristics of respondents; and any patterns in remedies and outcomes. We consider the extent to whic..
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Awarded by Australian Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
The research carried out for this article has been supported by a grant from the Australian Research Council (LP099990298) and is part of a wider research project on the activities and influence of the Fair Work Ombudsman ('FWO'). This project is partly funded by the FWO. The authors would like to thank the FWO and the anonymous interviewees and participants for cooperating with this research. We would also like to thank Jack Lang for providing research assistance and the two anonymous referees for their helpful comments.