Natalie Sewell

Child labour is a phrase associated with exploitation, poverty, insufficient education and various forms of physical abuse. These connotations do not match Australian perceptions about the employment of children and are not correlated with mainstream dialogue on teenagers in part time and casual employment. Child employment is an accepted part of Australian society, with older children making up a significant portion of the workforce. Minimum standards are increasingly regarded a critical safeguard for young Australians at work, evidenced by recent state level statutory amendment and enactment of dedicated legislation. This article makes two submissions; first, it suggests the regulation of young people's working conditions is inappropriately neglected at national level in Australia, and secondly, it proposes national standards should be set and equated with those in other developed economies, meeting international standards. The 1994 European Community Directive on the Protection of Young Workers is referred to as a suitable benchmark.

The Employment Dispute Resolution Act 2008 (WA) creates a new dispute resolution jurisdiction for the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission. It expands the commission's ability to resolve disputes between parties in the Western Australian workplace, introducing mediation as a method of resolution. The legislation prescribes the use of mediation where the parties consent in relation to a specific dispute, and other forms of dispute resolution including mediation where they have made a referral agreement empowering the commission to resolve particular disputes, or where a federal agreement allows the commission to conduct a dispute resolution process. Notwithstanding these broad opportunities for employment dispute resolution in Western Australia, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) may limit the commission's ability to offer their services to all local workplace participants.

United States - Australia Automotive Leather, sometimes known as Howe Leather, is a recent example of dispute settlement by the World Trade Organisation (WTO).' Although only five years old. the WTO dispute settlement system has been credited with legalising the relationship between the WTO and its Members2 and recognised as the reason for the "shifting of attention and resources" away from other tools available to them.' In this case, the system's processes and outcomes reveal something of the organisation's youthful direction...