Australian industrial relations and COVID-19

To understand the current state of industrial relations in Australia and intuit what the post-COVID-19 industrial landscape might look like it is necessary to briefly revisit the political, labour market and industrial context immediately preceding the crisis. 2019 saw another federal election in which industrial relations loomed large. The union movement bet heavily on defeating the Liberal-National Party Coalition through its campaign to 'Change the rules' that attempted to foment voter concern about the industrial relations regulatory framework. The campaign presented that framework as skewed in favour of employers and targeted insecure work, penalty rates and wage theft as particular issues to be addressed.