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By the end of the 1980s many academics working in the eclectic field called `industrial relations' (IR) began to express concern about the threat to the area posed by the rise of `human resource management' (HRM). A number of IR academics argued that the rise of HRM would, among other things, spell the end of specialist courses and programs in IR and academic departments or units of IR in universities. This article reviews evidence on changes that have been occurring in the teaching of industrial relations in Australian tertiary institutions over the decade of the 1990s. While there has been a substantial increase in the teaching of HRM, IR as a discipline has not been completely eroded and in places has proved to be resilient and adaptable to the challenge posed by HRM, in many instances incorporating and accommodating HRM into IR programs. The paper concludes by assessing the implications of changes in the teaching of IR in response to the challenge of HRM.

Australian industrial relations have continued to move toward decentralization. The events of 1991 reveal that the persistent calls for decentralized bargaining between employers, employees and their representative organizations are having effect: enterprise bargaining within the federal system has been ratified by the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, and legislation providing for enterprise bargaining has been introduced in New South Wales The trade union movement has sought to consolidate its position through the continued process of amalgamation of unions and involvement in enterprise bargaining. The study of industrial relations at the workplace level has become a priority of the federal government and, with the release of the first major survey in the area, a more important topic for industrial relations academics. The greater focus on the workplace by industrial relations academics will hopefully act to inform the proposed changes in the practice of industrial relations.