Commonwealth legislation

Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 - Proclamation

RepealedCTH

This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.

Jurisdiction

Commonwealth

Collection

legislative instrument

Plain English Summary

1/10 complexity

This is a formal commencement proclamation — an official legal notice that brings specific parts of an existing law into force.

What it does:

Sets 27 March 2006 as the start date for Schedules 1, 2 and 5 of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005.
These schedules contained the main operational provisions of the WorkChoices reforms, fundamentally changing workplace agreement-making and industrial relations oversight.

Who it affects:

Employers, employees, and unions covered by the federal workplace relations system, as the activated schedules introduced the new legal framework for their employment relationships.

Why it matters: This proclamation officially triggered the controversial WorkChoices regime, shifting significant powers from industrial tribunals to individual employers and employees, and remains a landmark moment in Australian labour law history.

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Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005 - Proclamation

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Proclamation

Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005

I, PHILIP MICHAEL JEFFERY, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council and under subsection 2 (1) of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Act 2005, fix 27 March 2006 as the day on which Schedules 1, 2 and 5 to that Act commence.

Signed and sealed with the Great Seal of Australia on 17 March 2006

P. M. JEFFERY

Governor-General

By His Excellency’s Command

KEVIN ANDREWS

Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations

Source text

Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.