26/02/2026
President’s Message
Dear Members
Thank you for the fantastic turnout at the Annual IRSQ Breakfast Event held this past Tuesday. Those in attendance (238 people) had the pleasure of hearing from our guest speaker and new Patron, Commissioner Ros McLennan from the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission.
Commission McLennan provided a very comprehensive and deeply considered address about her reflections from 2025 and a structured diagnostic of the IR landscape and what we may see emerging in 2026.
From wage movements and the criminalisation of wage theft to the NES review, Closing Loopholes reforms, AI governance, psychological injury trends, and Queensland’s evolving public sector jurisprudence, the Commissioner’s analysis was precise, reflective and forward-looking. In particular, the synthesis of national reform alongside Queensland-specific developments, including the QIRC bargaining assistance trends, public sector appeal issues, WHS entry reforms, and reproductive health leave. It reminds us that industrial relations is never static. It is a dynamic regulatory ecosystem shaped by fiscal constraints, political priorities, tribunal interpretation and lived workplace realities.
Also highlighted were the structural tensions that define our profession at present:
• productivity versus protection,
• flexibility versus fairness,
• innovation versus regulation, and
• efficiency versus access to justice.
The Commissioner reflections on AI in tribunal processes hinted to challenges ahead, as did her reflection on psychological injury escalation, and funding disparities in local government bargaining underscore that IR professionals must now operate not just as technicians of statute, but as strategic risk managers and policy interpreters.
For those of us who proudly identify as “IR nerds,” this has been exactly the kind of horizon scan we value, rigorous, candid, and grounded in practice. On behalf of the Society, we thank Commission McLennan for her continuing contribution to the Queensland Industrial Relations Community, and once again thank you all for your attendance.
Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the next event briefly outlined below:
Thursday 19 March 2026:
Networking for the young and young at heart!
Venue: Griffith University Southbank Function Room (S07_Level 7.07)
Time: 5.30pm Registration for 6pm.
Guest Presenter (20mins) Commissioner Samantha Pidgeon, followed by networking activities until 7.30pm.
Flyer and Registration Process to be sent next week.
Kind regards,
Ben French
IRSQ President
P.S: For those enrolled in the current Mentoring Program (2025-2026), our wrap-up event will take place at the United Services Club at 6pm on 17 April 2026. An email will be sent to current mentors and mentees soon. Please hold the date.
