Biography

The Hon. Dr Nicholas Blain maintains an active involvement in workplace relations strategy and in mentoring. He also continues to contribute to media debate on workplace issues.

Most recently, Dr Blain has been in private practice as a Workplace Relations Strategist. He provides specialist services to leading Australian companies, professional practitioners, employees and unions.

As a Presidential Member of the Australian Industrial Relations Commission, Dr Blain settled numerous industrial disputes between employers, employees and trade unions throughout Australia.  He conciliated and arbitrated disputes  in both the private and public sectors in a wide variety of industries,  including: power, transport, retail, banking, media, construction, mining, health, education, manufacturing and seafaring.

Prior to that, Dr Blain was Chief Adviser to the Minister for Labour Relations in Western Australia, assisting in the introduction of some of the most far-reaching legislative reforms in nearly 100 years. These included: the introduction of statutory minimum conditions of employment, voluntary workplace agreements, compulsory secret ballots before strikes, a non-adversarial workers’ compensation system, and a modernised occupational safety and health system.

He also  served on the Cabinet Standing Committee on Labour Relations, a body which supervised workplace relations outcomes in some 100 public sector agencies.

During his academic career, Dr Blain acted as a consultant to:

• the United Kingdom Board of Prices and Incomes;
• the Hancock Committee of Review into Australian Industrial Relations Law and Systems;
• the Independent Public Inquiry into Domestic Airfares;
• the Musicians’ Union; and
• Multiplex, Western Collieries and Woodside Petroleum.

He was described by the London Times as the world’s leading independent expert on airline pilot industrial relations. He was a mediator in Australia’s landmark 1989 Pilots’ dispute. He served as a national commentator for the ABC on industrial relations for many years.

Dr Blain has management experience in small, medium and large organisations in building materials manufacturing, merchant banking, and iron ore mining.

His qualifications include:

• Honours and Master’s degrees in Economics from the University of Western Australia;
• Doctor of Philosophy degree ( Industrial Relations) from the London School of Economics; and
• Fellow of the Australian Human Resources Institute of Australia.

Click The Hon. Dr Nicholas Blain CV  and Wikipedia biography for further details.