Since the release of the Australian Labor Party's Secure Australian Jobs Plan, the team at Corrs have been tracking key announcements made by major political figures regarding industrial relations, workplace relations and other issues potentially relevant to business.

We are proud to provide you with our 'Pre-election Tracker', which is a comprehensive overview of more than twelve months of the key opposing policy announcements of the major parties. This document summarises and explains those key policy announcements. It directly connects you with the primary source of each policy announcement. There is no editorial license; we have set out the substance for you to study and draw your own conclusions.

Following these developments is critical. The party or parties which forms government after the election will claim a mandate to implement the changes they took to the election. With the real possibility of a hung parliament, and the likelihood of a Senate crossbench comprised of independents and minor parties, mandates will be important.

The various policy proposals advanced ahead of this election have long gestation periods. They are developed over years; in multiple policy documents, committee reports, sometimes bills already introduced to the parliament, and they are refined and altered through politicians' speeches and public comments.

These announcements will remain relevant after May 21, regardless of who wins. Proposals for reform rarely disappear from the policy debate completely. Policies which are withdrawn or proposed by the losing party in this election may well resurface later. They may later form the basis of interest group campaigns, state government policies, private member's bills, recommendations from law reform bodies and inquiries, and potentially become government policy.

Some announcements are more likely to have a significant impact businesses. Consequently, we have provided links to summaries of some of the policy announcements we consider to be the most likely to significantly affect businesses.

To get your copy of 'Pre-election workplace relations policy tracker', please click here or on 'DOWNLOAD PDF' to the right.

This article is part of our Australian Federal Election 2022 Insight collection. Read more here.

The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.

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