Australian Business Associations—Their Strategies For Surviving The 1990s And Beyond

Abstract

This paper examines the effect that the major public policy changes that occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, most noticeably a drastic reduction in tariffs and a move away from centralised industrial relations, had on the operating environment of Australian business associations. Based on earlier research undertaken by Stephen Bell (1994) and using surveys and interviews with senior officers of Australian business associations, this paper aims to verify the contemporary accuracy of his 1994 hypothesis that business associations were reacting to their tough new operating environment by adopting a number of survival strategies. This paper concludes that Australian business associations are indeed reacting to a tougher operating environment by way of expanding the services they offer, both to their members and the State, and are increasingly willing to act collectively with other business associations to further the interests of their members.