The Right to Work

Abstract

The Australian Charter of Employment Rights identifies the rights and obligations that workers and employers should provide to each other. A right that stands outside the ambit of the Charter is the right to work. This is not a right that any individual employer can fulfil — although it can be hoped that, with an eye to the public interest, employers will always strive to maximise employment opportunities for the unemployed. Rather, the right to work imposes a societal obligation. While the Charter deals with the rights of employers and those in work, it would be remiss not to recognise that we, as a society, have an important obligation to provide work to those who want it but don’t have it. This chapter addresses that obligation.