ABSTRACT
This chapter explains Australian and British regulatory approaches to child employment, sampling two countries that might be considered to have few child labour problems. Legislation dealing with child employment in Australia originally developed in a colonial environment with chronic labour shortages. The South Australian government has, however, proposed legislation that would provide more comprehensive protections for young workers. Western Australia, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory also impose certain limitations on child employment, though again to varying degrees. Regulation of child employment in Britain currently relies on dedicated legislation, statutory instruments and delegated law detached from general employment legislation. International and regional law have had various influences on the development of policy on child employment in developed countries like Britain and Australia. Having a sound national platform for child employment law would be an obvious improvement to existing legal frameworks in both Australia and Britain.
