E LAW - MURDOCH UNIVERSITY ELECTRONIC JOURNAL OF LAW
ISSN 1321-8247
Volume 6 Number 2 (June, 1999)
Copyright E Law and/or authors
File: buti62b.txt
ftp://cleo.murdoch.edu.au/pub/elaw/issues/v6n2/buti62b.txt
http://www.murdoch.edu.au/elaw/issues/v6n2/buti62b.html
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Review of Butterworths Employment and Law Dictionary

Tony Buti
Murdoch University School of Law

  1. The nature of employment in Australia has undergone major changes in
     the last five years. There has been significant legislative (i.e.
     Workplace Relations Act 1996 (Cth)), policy, practical and attitudinal
     changes in all disciplines or spheres that come together under the
     employment umbrella. These disciplines or spheres include employment
     law, industrial law, industrial relations, human resources management,
     occupational health and safety, and workers' compensation.

  2. By its very nature change often brings uncertainty and confusion.
     Uncertainty and confusion often emanates from new terminology, which
     may appear complex. A dictionary which illuminates words and phrases
     associated with the ever changing nature of employment and the law
     would be of immense benefit to all those interested and involved in
     that area of law. Butterworths Employment and Law Dictionary certainly
     achieves this aim of illuminating 'those words and phrases in each
     main area of contemporary law'(at xii).

  3. The purpose and explanation of the content of the book is eloquently
     stated by the editor, Professor Ronald McCallum:

          ...The purpose of compiling this small dictionary of
          employment and labour law terms is to provide human resource
          managers, industrial relations personnel and lawyers with a
          reference guide of the major legal terms and phrases which
          come within the broad fields of employment and labour law.
          In making the selections for this dictionary, I have, of
          course, chosen terms and phrases from the standard legal
          areas of employment law, occupational health and safety and
          workers' compensation. Yet, the practice and the application
          of labour law traverses broader legal vistas. To this end, I
          have chosen appropriate terms from the general fields of
          contract law, the law of torts, agency law, corporations
          law, administrative law and constitutional law. Other
          relevant terms concerning the establishment and jurisdiction
          of courts and tribunals also have been included...(at xiii).

  4. The dictionary is impressively laid out and the language is very
     precise and clear. This is critically important, as the purpose of
     referring to a dictionary is to improve ones understanding of a word
     or phrase.

  5. The user is further assisted by the inclusion of a two page 'how to
     use' segment (at xv-xvi).This is most informative: it describes what
     information is provided and what it denotes. For example, the
     dictionary provides synonyms, Latin terms or Latin derivations, cross
     referencing, legislative authorities, judicial authorities and
     phonetic fonts that indicate the pronunciations of Latin terms. The
     dictionary also provides a list of 'International Phonetic Alphabet
     Symbols for Australian English', 'Table of Contents', 'Table of
     Abbreviations', lists of relevant organisations, and contact details
     for federal court registries, state industrial commission registries,
     workcover agencies, government agencies and relevant peak bodies.

  6. Butterworths Employment and Law Dictionary should prove to be a
     valuable reference for all those working in the 'rapidly evolving
     industrial relations environment' who required 'some familiarity with
     the meaning of terms in the employment law area.' The dictionary will
     also prove useful for employment and industrial law academics and
     their students.