| Founded | Born 1886. Reborn 1994. |
|---|---|
| Type | Australian Trade Union |
| Location | |
Key people | National General Secretary - Bernard Constable |
The Shearers and Rural Workers' Union is an Australian industrial union that is not registered with the Fair Work Commission and is also not affiliated with the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.
The Fair Work Commission (FWC), until 2013 known as Fair Work Australia (FWA), is the Australian industrial relations tribunal created by the Fair Work Act 2009 as part of the Rudd Government's reforms to industrial relations in Australia. Operations commenced on 1 July 2009. It is the successor of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and also performs functions previously performed by the Workplace Authority and the Australian Fair Pay Commission. Since March 2012, Iain JK Ross has been the President of FWC, and Bernadette O'Neill is its current general manager.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is the largest peak body representing workers in Australia. It is a national trade union centre of 46 affiliated unions and nine trades and labour councils. The ACTU is a member of the International Trade Union Confederation.
They formed on 1 May 1994 in Victoria when members of the Australian Workers' Union split away due to the declining membership of the AWU; the increase in AWU dues; and, a perceived anti-democratic bureaucracy in the AWU.
The Australian Workers Union (AWU) is one of Australia's largest and oldest trade unions. It traces its origins to unions founded in the pastoral and mining industries in the 1880s and currently has approximately 100,000 members. It has exercised an influence on the Australian trade union movement and on the Australian Labor Party throughout its history.
