Consultative Councils in Qantas and Telecom: A Comparative Study

The structure and operation of the top-level consultative councils in Qantas and Telecom are compared in this paper. It sets the study within the context of recent Australian debate on the merits of employee participation and industrial democracy. Impressions are drawn on the extent to which worker representatives participate in the respective consultative councils and on the extent to which the councils promote worker participation at other levels within the organization. The commitment of top management and unions is shown to be crucial to the achievement of higher levels of worker participation both inside and outside the councils.