F76/ 126
PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS 14 JUNE 1976
EMPLOYER/ EMPLOYEE ORGANISATIONS
The policy statements issued by the Liberal Party and
the National Country Party before the 1975 elections
stressed the importance of communication between Government,
employees and employers.
We said that employers and employees should be encouraged
to cooperate continually with each other on issues such
as the working environment, industrial safety, and technology
changes, and to de-elop a spirit of employee involvement.
It was our view t: aZ employers and employees should establish
continuing consul-naive machinery of their own choosing,
designed to further communication and discussion and an
understanding of -ie common interests of employees and
employers. We . believed such discussions should be concerned
with issues-jlocal to a particular establishment matters
concerned with wider union issues being: conducted by the
unions and industries involved.
Many employers and employees already engage in discussions
of the ktnd mentionecI. The-Gove-rniment--hopes, however;
that communications between employers and employees will
continue to improve, with arrangements of the kind envisaged
in our policy statements being more widespread and established.
I have recently arranged a survey of the consultative machinery
which exists at the moment in areas of Commonwealth employment.
I am pleased to report that in addition to the service-wide
-consultation which takes place through the Joint Council, ./ 2
many public service departments and statutory authorities
have well developed formal and informal machinery established,
and operating successfully, e. g.
Joint Consultative Councils and Committees
Management Service Advisory Committees
Staff Development Advisory Committees
Industrial Relations Units.
Welfare Officers
Joint Management/ Union Committee meetings and review groups
Safety Committees
Union Liaison Committees
Staff Councils
Senior Management field visits
Regular ad hoc staff/ management meetings and discussions
take place where no formal machinery exists 0
Staff circulars and bulletins
The Government, as an employer is furthering its policy by
encouraging the establishment ' of appropriate consultative
machinery, where ices not already exist, and by supporting
the appropriate deTelopment and expansion of existing machinery
both service-wide in the various individual areas of
Commonwealth employv__ ent.