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A debate about how Australia can "future-proof" work relations has seen widespread agreement that reform is needed, but conflicting opinions about how "sweeping" it should be.

At the recent Australian Institute of Employment Rights Ron McCallum debate, which doubled as a launch for the book, A New Work Relations Architecture, the institute's union representative vice president Mark Perica said the Fair Work Act is no longer fit for purpose.

Perica, one of the book's authors, criticises Australia's overly restrictive approach to enterprise bargaining and argues for the introduction of multi-employer bargaining (MEB), which has been shown to achieve industrial pluralism and "deep workplace participation" in Europe.

MEB could lead to greater workplace consultation, joint decision-making and workplace democracy, Perica says. It could establish a common standard for all employers and, by forcing less efficient firms to operate at greater efficiency rather than be subsidised by lower wages, increase efficiency...