Boardroom Radio often has interesting speakers on topical issues. On 11 December 2009, they interviewed Barry Sherriff who recently joined the Australian law firm, Deacons. The interview is of general interest and reflects many of the issues raised by Australian labour lawyers elsewhere.
Barry is an OHS law expert and was a member of the panel that reviewed Australia’s OHS legislation in 2008/09 in order to steer the development of a model OHS law. That process was completed in mid-2009 and the Government took on most of the recommendations. Effectively the Government started a second separate process – the development of legislation based on a range of information, advice and public submissions.
Many recent submissions to the Government in this second phase harked back to earlier findings. Many issues raised in the Model OHS Act Review, such as the issue of “suitably qualified” OHS advisers, are dead. As Barry’s interview shows, contemporary thinking provides forward momentum and it is up to all of us to keep our state of OHS knowledge current.