Western Australian System Research Articles

Reflections on the Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Environmental Impact Assessment

Abstract Environmental impact assessment (EIA) involves assessing the implications of proposed activities on the environment to inform decisions about whether those actions should proceed and under what conditions. Efforts are being made to incorporate climate change considerations into EIA internationally, but the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions poses particular challenges. This article compares the incorporation of GHG emissions into EIA in two jurisdictions: Canada (under the Impact Assessment Act 2019) and Western Australia (under the Environmental Protection Act 1986). Four questions are considered, relating to screening and scoping; information requirements; decision-making and condition setting; and post-approval activities. Key differences between the two jurisdictions were found in relation to screening and scoping (Western Australia applies an emissions threshold while Canada utilizes a project list coupled with tailored guidelines); decision-making (Western Australia generally considers a straight line trajectory to net zero by 2050 as acceptable whereas Canada considers emissions in the context of international commitments and against other sustainability considerations); and post-approval activities (a strength of the Western Australian system is mechanisms enabling review and tightening of GHG conditions over time). It will be important to continue to review the effectiveness of EIA as a tool for climate mitigation as practice evolves.

Workers’ Compensation Dispute Resolution Procedures in Western Australia – The New Regime

Since November 2005, workers' compensation disputes have been resolved by the Dispute Resolution Directorate (DRD). The process of dispute resolution involves three stages: conciliation, arbitration and, where necessary, appeal. As with other dispute resolution schemes adopted in Western Australia and elsewhere the DRD emphasises speedy, informal resolution of disputes. However, the current system departs from its predecessor the Conciliation and Review Directorate in a number of important aspects which are examined in this paper. The Western Australian DRD has adopted the 'front loaded' form of application as developed in New South Wales, but has designed rules and regulations unique to the Western Australian system. The primary purpose of these rules is to facilitate prompt resolution of disputes through full disclosure of evidence at the earliest opportunity. This paper examines the new scheme in detail and reflects on previous disputes processes adopted in Western Australia. It offers some reflections on the evolution of the Western Australian system.

Western Australian electoral reforms: Labor finally succeeds

Australian electoral systems have a history of malapportionment, designed to give added voting weight to rural and remote areas. However, by 2000, all Australian jurisdictions except Western Australia had adopted voting equality within specified tolerances. This paper provides a brief analysis of the Gallop Labor government's efforts to reform the Western Australian system, drawing primarily on interviews with key players involved in the debates, including parliamentary members of the political parties involved. Quotations in this paper are drawn from these interviews, which were conducted in August 2004.

The Right to Convert Exploration Licences to Mining Leases in Australia: a Proposed National Uniform Model

In this article, the authors raise an important proposal for reform to Australia's mining legislation: a nationally-consistent model providing exploration licence holders with a legislative right to be granted a mining lease. This proposed national model will be designed to reflect the present Western Australian system—Western Australia being the only jurisdiction to provide exploration licence holders with the express right to be granted a mining lease on application. The authors believe that the Western Australian system should provide the basis for a national legislative model, given that it is designed to balance appropriately the interests of companies wanting a right to mine to recoup the costs involved in exploring for minerals, and the interests of the public in ensuring that exploration and mining is conducted reasonably.

Evolution of the system of protected areas in Western Australia

The Western Australian system of protected areas (PAs) covers more than 15 million ha and is the second largest conservation estate of the Australian continent. An analysis of the history of the creation of PAs in Western Australia shows that the concept of nature conservation through reserves was slow to emerge. During the early decades of the century, reserves were mainly created for their recreation values. The lack of governmental interest in nature conservation led to a belated development of reserve coverage up to the 1950s, while vast areas of land were opened to farming and pastoralism. Following two scientifically-based reviews of the PA system, the number and coverage of PAs increased dramatically up to the late 1970s. The rationalization of the vesting and managerial responsibilities for PAs was only finalized in the 1980s. Since then, there has not been any large increase in PA area but a consolidation of the PA coverage. The development of the system of PAs has been impeded by the belated response of Western Australian governments to conservation concerns and a 'worthless' land approach to conservation as a land use. While large-scale land alienation for agriculture has now stopped, other types of land uses such as mining and other aspirations over land management and vesting, such as Aboriginal land claims and forestry are now constraining any large expansion of the PA system. Only an approach embracing the whole landscape can overcome the political and social limitations of the concept of PAs and the further degradation of developed land in Western Australia.

Industrial Relations in Western Australia

The main aim of this paper is to provide an overview of West Australian industrial relations that is succinct, comprehensive and useful for students, practitioners and others interested in the subject. It sets the scene with a short survey of the history of Western Australian industrial relations. The principal parties in the system are identified and their major features discussed. The main processes used in Western Australian industrial relations are analysed, and the major outcomes, in the forms of wages and conditions, are outlined. The paper concludes that the dynamic and developing nature of the Western Australian system of industrial relations is evidenced by the emergence within the past twenty-five years of the leading actors in the system, the Trades and Labor Council, the Confederation of Western Australian Industry, the Office of Industrial Relations, and the Industrial Relations Commission. The present operations of the system are complex, and there are pressures for change in the system. Although the long-term effects of the 1986-87 Robe River dispute and related developments are yet to be seen, further reforms in Western Australian industrial laws seem inevitable.

The Western Australian System of Industrial Relations

The Western Australian System of Industrial Relations