WA Industrial Relations Conference 2025

Navigating Change in IR: Reviewing the Last Decade and Looking to the Next

The WA IR Conference is back in 2025 at the beautiful Rendezvous Hotel on Scarborough Beach. Come along and enjoy 2 days of development, learning and networking from professionals in all IR sectors including law, public policy, academia, business management, and more.

The conference will be filled with insights from distinguished speakers including:

Official opening address

Speaker: The Honourable Simone McGurk MLA, Minister for Creative Industries; Heritage; Industrial Relations; Aged Care and Seniors; Women

Industrial Relations in the IRC and IMC

Speaker: Commissioner Charmaine Tsang, Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission

Insights on how the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) is working for fairer workplaces in an evolving workplace relations environment. Daniel will cover the FWO’s approach to education, compliance and enforcement in light of the new civil penalty settings and criminal jurisdiction, as well as advice for IR practitioners to prevent non-compliance, or achieve best practice remediation when things go wrong.

Speaker: Daniel Crick, Executive Director of Employer Assistance and Compliance, Fair Work Ombudsman

Regulating gig work in Australia: examining the Australian ‘solution’. This presentation aims to provide a brief background concerning gig work and its development through Australia’s existing IR arrangements before outlining the current Australian Government’s legislative solution to gig work and how this is playing out to date.

Speakers: Dr Caleb Goods and Dr Tom Barratt, Senior Lecturers, Management and Organisations, UWA Business School

Contracting Out and Set Off of Award Entitlements. An overview of recent cases on contracting out, annualised salary arrangements, set off of award/EBA entitlements, and the approach of the Fair Work Ombudsman to these issues.

Speaker: Nick Ellery, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers

Litigating complaints without complainants: The difficulties and dilemmas when complainants refuse to participate in workplace litigation. A complaint against an employee can spark all kinds of workplace litigation between the employee and their employer, including unfair dismissal, adverse action or discrimination applications. However, complainants are often reluctant to participate in that litigation, particularly in the context of sexual harassment. This seminar discusses the issues that reluctance can create for the parties and the decision-maker, including the dilemma of compelling the complainant’s attendance, and the difficulties in relying on investigation records and other hearsay evidence.

Speaker: Sam Pack, Barrister, Francis Burt Chambers

IR you serious? An overview and outlook on the economy for IR practitioners.

Speaker: Conrad Liveris, Economist and non-profit Executive

Artificial Intelligence in Industrial Relations: Friend, Foe or Frenemy?

Speaker: Kathryn Hunter, Senior Associate, King & Wood Mallesons

Plus more topics to be announced soon!

Including speakers:

Senator Varun Ghosh, Senator for Western Australia

Deputy President Melanie Binet, Fair Work Commission

David Scaife MLA, Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier and Member for Cockburn

Rikki Hendon, Secretary, UnionsWA

Aden Date, Facilitator and Founder/Director of Only the Human

Cory Fogliani, Principal Lawyer, Fogliani Lawyers

Your ticket to the conference includes two long table lunches and three-course dinner and drinks on the Friday evening!

We cannot wait to see you there.

Ticket Information:

• All tickets (except for the 'Dinner Only' ticket) cover full access to the conference including the formal conference dinner on day 1.
• Note that any additional 'guest' tickets purchased via member login will be full price.
• Seating arrangements can be requested via email.
• The conference dinner and welcome drinks on 23/05/2025 from 5:30pm. This ticket type is for those wishing to attend dinner but NOT the conference itself.
• For table tickets (8 people), please contact IRSWA directly by email to irsocietywa@gmail.com.