ACTU secretary Sally McManus believes Australia’s enterprise bargaining system is “broken”. While Jennifer Westacott, CEO of the Business Council of Australia may not have used the same expression, she has effectively admitted its accuracy by saying enterprise bargaining is “slowing collapsing in front of us”. Although the ACTU and BCA essentially agree on the current state of the bargaining system and both organisations are pressuring the federal government to find solutions, Australia would be better off overall without this industrial relations policy.  

Enterprise bargaining generally involves an employer and a group of employees collectively negotiating wages and conditions instead of using an applicable award.