Utilising risk management and enterprise agreements for economically and environmentally sustainable businesspractices in tourism enterprises

In line with the contribution of industry to environmental degradation, there is a pressing need to inform industry of opportunities to utilise industrial relations mechanisms for environmental outcomes. Two focus studies and a subsequent doctrinal analysis indicate that legal and economic stakeholders in tourism enterprises can be fiscally motivated to utilise risk management and enterprise agreements as sufficiently flexible industrial relations mechanisms to consider and enforce economically and environmentally sustainable business practices. The risk management framework of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (NSW) enables stakeholders to consider environmentally sustainable business practices if reasonably practicable. Enterprise agreements as regulated by the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) may enforce environmentally sustainable business practices that pertain to the employment relationship. Legal and economic stakeholders in tourism enterprises may be commercially motivated to utilise the economic nexus of these industrial relations mechanisms in considering and enforcing economically and environmentally sustainable business practices.