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The article focuses on the value and merit of Australian workplace agreements (AWAs). An AWA is an individual written agreement between an employee and an employer about the terms and conditions of employment. Formalised individual agreements are a relatively new phenomenon in the Australian industrial relations landscape. The major aim of the study was to analyse the ways in which AWAs had been put into effect in organisations. In addition, the research attempted to explore the impact of AWAs on organisational outcomes from an employer's perspective and the decision-making processes that accompanied employers' choices about how to implement AWAs. The paper reviews responses from 688 employers who had approved AWAs with the Office of the Employment Advocate before February 2000. Individual employee and employer consultation arrangements were more likely to be used in establishing AWAs and generally communicating with the workforce as a whole. The survey also suggested that the majority of respondents intended to increase their use of AWAs in the future because of increased flexibility and the benefit of all employees being under one type of industrial relations instrument.

Introduces a series of articles which focused on the management of human resources in Australia.