The term ‘Work Choices’ first entered the Australian lexicon in late 2005 when the Federal Parliament passed the Workplace Relations Amendment (WorkChoices) Act 2005 (Cth) which amended the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth) (WR Act). The major changes introduced by this legislation came into effect on 27 March 2006 and were heralded by the Federal Government as introducing “A simpler, fairer, national workplace relations system for Australia.”  Since this time, the Work Choices brand has been subject to political and legal attacks, State legislative reaction, federal legislative revision, an abundance of case law, and substantial campaign activity by the major political parties associated with the forthcoming federal election. This paper charts the progress of some of the more significant of these developments over the period to the end of August 2007, a few months out from that election.

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