Rights & Responsibilities

Employees and independent contractors, as well as employers, are free to join or not to join industrial organisations of their choice. 'Industrial organisations' means trade unions (employee organisations) and employer associations.

The exception is where a person is lawfully expelled from an organisation according to its rules and the relevant laws. Both the NSW Industrial Relations Act 1996 and the federal Workplace Relations Act 1996 [Austlii website] have sections that entitle all Australians to freedom of association. 

An arrangement to employ a member of any industrial organisation over a non-member, or a member of another industrial organisation cannot be enforced at law. Awards and agreements cannot give a right of preference in employment to union members.

Both state and federal laws state that an employer or industrial organisation cannot discriminate against or victimise someone because they are, or are not, a member of a trade union or employer association. Victimisation on the basis of the following is prohibited:

• being a union official or elected representative
• engaging in or refusing to engage in industrial action
• claiming a lawful benefit or entitlement
• providing information about an employer's breach of the law
• engaging in or proposing to engage in a public or political activity (unless it interferes with the person's work)

Workers currently employed, and those applying for a job, are protected