Mapping complexity in Australian enterprise agreements: A multi-dimensional approach

One of the aims of workplace relations reforms in Australia over nearly two decades has been to facilitate the creation of simple enterprise agreements as a panacea for the complexity of the workplace relations system. Drawing on Schuck s four features of complexity - technicality, density, differentiation and uncertainty - this article develops a methodological framework to categorise the complexity of enterprise agreements and to assess whether these agreements have become more, or less, complex over time. The article then illustrates the application of these methods by presenting empirical results from an exploratory study of agreements in the higher education sector.