The Regulatory Space of Collective Labour Relations in Australian Team Sports

Regulatory space theory posits that different regimes of regulation can operate within the one area of regulation. In professional sport in Australia the regulatory space of labour is occupied by the regulatory systems of a sport and the state’s labour laws. This article will demonstrate that while these two systems generally do not compete with the other, on occasion they conflict with another. Players and more recently player associations have engaged with state and federal labour law to either challenge labour controls in a sport or to obtain enhanced labour protections and working conditions. Such actions often involve collective rights through awards or agreements. This article will set out the regulatory space of labour in Australian professional sport, examine when players have engaged external collective bargaining laws and identify recent trends in collective bargaining.