DrDanaë Anderson

New Zealand Institute of Safety Management

Anonymous peer review

Conference Leadership and Scholarly Standing (AIRAANZ) I was invited to chair a conference session on “The National-led Government’s first year: public policy changes and their employment relations issues, trends and implications” at the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand (AIRAANZ). This invitation reflects recognition of my expertise in employment relations and work health and safety policy, particularly in relation to contemporary regulatory reform in Aotearoa New Zealand. The session featured senior and highly respected scholars with longstanding involvement in AIRAANZ. My role as chair involved curating discussion across diverse disciplinary perspectives, facilitating critical engagement with emerging policy developments, and synthesising key themes for a specialist academic audience. This contribution demonstrates both disciplinary leadership and my active engagement in shaping scholarly debate on employment relations and public policy.

This presentation examines workplace health and safety (WHS) reform during the first year of the National-led government, with a particular focus on the intersection between regulatory change and employment relations. Drawing on emerging policy developments, public consultations, and early implementation signals, the analysis situates WHS reform within a broader programme of labour market deregulation and institutional restructuring. The presentation traces key policy directions, including proposed changes to regulatory scope, enforcement priorities, and employer obligations under the Health and Safety at Work Act framework. These developments are analysed in relation to longstanding concerns within the New Zealand context, including weak enforcement capacity, limited transparency of regulatory action, and gaps between legislative intent and practice. From an employment relations perspective, the reforms raise important questions about the shifting balance of responsibility between the state, employers, and workers. In particular, the presentation explores: the implications of reform for worker participation and voice in health and safety systems; the extent to which policy changes may reinforce or undermine employer accountability; the risks of further fragmentation in regulatory oversight and compliance; and the potential impact on already vulnerable worker groups, including those in precarious or contracted employment arrangements. The presentation argues that early reform signals reflect a move towards a more permissive regulatory approach, with a greater emphasis on business flexibility and self-regulation. While framed as reducing compliance burdens, such shifts risk exacerbating existing weaknesses in New Zealand’s WHS system, particularly in relation to enforcement consistency and protection against occupational harm.

Anonymous peer review