The state of representative participation in Australia: Where to next?

The article first examines the rationale for representative participation, and the circumstances under which it has spread internationally. It then surveys the existing data for representative participation in Australia, and presents a case for legislation to introduce a generalised system of German-style works councils. The paper concludes that the first step towards this end should be the instigation of a major research agenda to discover more regarding the elements of historical and contemporary practice which have accounted for success and failure in representative participation in Australia.