ABSTRACT
Employers’ association representation in Australia remains highly fragmented and complex. Nevertheless, in recent decades, associations have played a crucial role in generating significant changes to Australia's bargaining structure. Much of this reflects legislative interventions that have responded to incessant, intense association lobbying and public campaigning. Bargaining decentralization to the enterprise – where it survives – has become the norm; individualized contracting more widespread; awards from arbitration tribunals greatly reduced in scope; and unionization substantially atrophied. Employer power to manage has increased alongside workforce insecurity and inequality. These changes have also affected employers’ associations, creating profound organizational and commercial challenges for many while a few have thrived through successful adaptation. While institutionally embedded via legislation, associations now face very competitive product markets in which industrial relations representation is ever less useful for membership recruitment and retention. Olson's (1971) concepts of ‘collective goods’ and ‘selective goods’ are useful for explaining how Australia's more successful associations have adapted while others have failed. Challenging environmental conditions also encourage associations to experiment with ‘elective goods’ (Sheldon and Thornthwaite 2004) through which they confront competition from for-profit providers. Most recently, some employers’ associations’ policy stances have lagged their members’ in responding to rising concerns regarding environmental, social and governance issues.
