•  

  The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law (CELRL) was established in 1994. Its broad aims are to consolidate the teaching of, and research into, labour and employment law at the University of Melbourne, to contribute to the development of labour and employment law teaching and research throughout Australia, and to engage with labour and employment law scholars throughout the world.

  Read More
• News and Events
  News and Events from The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at Melbourne Law School
  
• Tweets by @CELRL_Melbourne

CELRL Members are engaged in research in diverse aspects of the broad field of employment and labour law and labour market regulation. Areas of particular interest and expertise include the regulation of individual work relationships, discrimination and inequality in employment and the labour market, the regulation of occupational health and safety, collective labour relations and bargaining, the functions of trade unions and alternative forms of worker representation, corporate governance and labour, enforcement of minimum employment standards, international labour rights and standards, temporary migrant worker rights and unemployment law, labour market policy, and comparative labour and employment law.

• CELRL in the media

  Centre Members and Associates frequently contribute to commercial news media by participating in radio and television interviews and writing for both print and online publications. Find out more here.

• Student Research Prizes and Awards

  Find out more about prizes and awards available to students.

• Co-hosted FWC Workplace Relations Lectures

  The Centre is pleased to co-host the Melbourne lectures of the Workplace Relations Lecture Series of the Fair Work Commission. Find out about past events here.

• Labour Law Seminar Series

  These free public seminars are intended to be of interest to a wide audience including academics, members of the legal profession, and those engaged in the day to day business of industrial relations and/or human resource management. They provide a forum for the presentation and discussion of preliminary research results and to that end are designed both to be informative and to engender critical discussion and debate. The seminars are usually held at lunchtime and a light lunch is provided, so RSVPs to the Centre Coordinator are encouraged. See a list of our past events here.

• Sponsors' Seminars Series

  The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law coordinates a series of seminars exclusively for the members of the legal practices that sponsor the Centre. These seminars are intended to be a forum in which to examine the key aspects of current developments in labour law. Speakers in the series typically include senior public officials, visiting labour law scholars from interstate or abroad, and legal practitioners who have been involved in significant labour law cases. A list of the Centre's sponsors is available here. Melbourne Law School has been accredited as a suitable provider of professional development by the Continuing Legal Education Committee of the Victorian Bar.

• Australian Labour Law Association

  The Centre for Employment and Labour Relations is the administrative home of the Australian Labour Law Association (ALLA).

  The objectives of ALLA are to promote the study of labour law and social security both in Australia and internationally, and to provide a forum for discussion and debate for lawyers and others working in these fields. ALLA is affiliated with the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law (ISLSSL).

  The National Committee of Management is made up of academics and legal professionals from across Australia. Centre member Dr Tess Hardy is a member of the National Committee.

  ALLA was incorporated in Victoria on 27 February 2001. There are currently active State Chapters in the ACT, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia. State Chapters provide a regional format for discussion and collaboration, and organise regular state-based events that aim to further the objectives of the Association.

  At a national level, ALLA also runs a biennial conference to provide a forum for the discussion of current labour law issues. For more information about the Australian Labour Law Association, including conference information, membership fees and registration forms, visit the ALLA website.

• Regulating for Decent Work Network

  The Centre continued its involvement in the RDW Network in 2015. The Network is a collaboration between the International Labour Organisation, the CELRL, the Durham Law School, the Fairness at Work Research Group at the University of Manchester, the University of Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS) and the University of Duisburg-Essen Institut Arbeit Qualifikation (IAQ). The objective of the RDW Network is to foster research and exchange of ideas concerning the role of labour and employment law protections in fostering economic development. The Network also aims to advance research and policy directions tailored towards making labour market regulation more effective.

  The RDW’s Fourth Conference on Developing and Implementing Policies for a Better Future at Work was held at the International Labour Office in Geneva from 8-10 July 2015. The conference investigated key dimensions of the future of work under four themes: (I) Worker protection: wages, hours, and the employment relationship; (II) Income security in the era of widening inequality – labour income, social protection, and well-being; (III) Labour market regulation and development – political economy of policy reforms and their outcomes; and (IV) Reaching out to vulnerable workers: voice, actions, and the role of collective labour relations.

  For further information about RDW, please visit   http://rdw.law.unimelb.edu.au/

• Labour Law Research Network

  In 2011, the Centre assisted in the formation of a new association of labour law scholars, the Labour Law Research Network.

  The Network is based on cooperation between 30 labour law research centres from all over the world. The goal of the LLRN is to advance research in labour law, and specifically to facilitate the dissemination of research work and encourage open discussion of scholarship and ideas in this field. All individual labour law scholars are welcome to join, whether affiliated with a research centre or not.

  John Howe was chosen by representatives of the 30 Centres to be a member of the inaugural Steering Committee of the Network, which consists of six labour law scholars, each from a different region of the world.

  Visit the LLRN website here.

Upcoming Events

Calendar view

News

Past Events

Find out more about recent events hosted by the centre.

Explore

Past Event Recordings

If you missed one of the thought-provoking speakers at Melbourne Law School, you may still catch their presentation online.

View More