The Employment Relations Act at 25: A midlife crisis?

The ERA is not governed by any formal rules of evidence, and there is no formal record of what is said. (Image: Getty)

Fri, 17 Oct 2025

The occasion of the Employment Relations Act’s 25th anniversary this year was marked by a keynote address from Employment Court chief judge Christina Inglis last week. Listening to the chief judge and reviewing her conference paper on what has happened over the last 25 years and where she sees the state of employment law today makes for interesting reading. The chief judge is very concerned about the rise in costs and complexity. I was a baby lawyer when the Employment Relations Act (ERA) came into force, repl...

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