The year 2024 was eventful for industrial relations (IR) disputes, with major Australian organisations facing off against disgruntled workers and unions in standoffs that caused a media frenzy. Here, one IR expert breaks down these major disputes and offers an outlook on why employers can’t afford to ignore the 2025 IR wave.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Kace O’Neill speaks with Workvergent founder and managing industrial relations consultant Troy Gread to unpack the most polarising disputes – from the Woolworths’ Christmas showdown to Sydney’s train strike chaos – and what they reveal about the battles ahead.

On the eve of a federal election, with IR battles and multi-employer bargaining on the rise, Gread reveals why 2025 could be a tipping point for employers and HR teams. Whether it’s navigating union tactics, Gen Z worker activism, or the hidden costs of lost productivity – the rapidly changing industrial landscape continues to evolve.

While “hustle culture” has been celebrated in the mainstream in recent years, one business leader is advocating for the more targeted, deliberated approach of “focus culture” – through which, she says, workers can be passionate about their work without having it become their identity.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with INFIX founder and chief executive Niamh Sullivan about her journey as a Forbes 30 Under 30 semi-finalist and a TEDx speaker, the key differences between “focus culture” and “hustle culture”, the impact of the pandemic on workplace cultural issues, the perpetuating impact of social media, and the consequences of buying into “hustle culture”.

Sullivan also delves into the negative cultural impacts that come from constant hustling by workers, what “focus culture” looks like in practice, the role of HR in working with employees to bring about the right cultural change, the role of business leaders, and how optimistic she is that Australian workplaces can move towards healthier modes of working and productivity.

Here, a senior corporate lawyer reflects on the three-year career break she took to be a full-time carer and what businesses need to do to ensure that the idiosyncratic family needs of workers are accounted for.

In this episode of The HR Leader Podcast, host Jerome Doraisamy speaks with ANZ senior procurement lawyer Porscia Lam about her legal career and decision to take a three-year break to care for her son, balancing work against family needs, what the response was like to her move, and how her perceptions of Australian workplaces have evolved in recent years.

Lam also delves into the need for businesses to better accommodating parenting needs, identifying the business case for increased support, what works and doesn’t work when supporting parents with neurodiverse children, ingraining such support in the workplace’s culture, the role of HR departments in driving such change, and making sure such support remains, even against the pushback against DEI measures.