The Development of Military Industrial Relations in Australia

Abstract

Military industrial relations issues in Australia have recently taken a higher profile with theformation of a specialist pay tribunal and the emergence of a representative personnel association. In traditional military settings, industrial relations matters usually receive little prominence because of the coercive and normative compliance structures associated with military employment. However, since the early 1960s studies of military organizations have raised the question of convergence between the military and other large organizations. These scholars have argued that post-war technological and social changes have largely removed the historical isolation of military systems. Applied to an industrial relations context, this thesis raises issues about Service personnel having greater access to civilian employee practices. A developmental analysis of changes in Australian military industrial relations since 1945 identified a progression from a traditional setting to one that, in some respects, resembles established civilian industrial systems. The analysis suggests that the convergence tendency is likely to continue.