HR Nicholls Society Appoints New Executive Director
The HR Nicholls Society today announced the appointment of James Mathias as Executive Director, a move that signals a renewed determination to place the Society back at the centre of Australia’s economic, legal and industrial debates.
James brings extensive experience across government, public policy and reform advocacy. He most recently served as Deputy Executive Director of the Menzies Research Centre, where over the past decade he played a leading role in shaping national debates on the rapid expansion of litigation funding and class actions, the consequences of regulatory and government overreach, and the growing tendency for major policy questions to be settled through the courts rather than through democratic institutions.
President of the HR Nicholls Society, Frank Parry KC, said the appointment reflected a deliberate decision to engage more assertively with the issues now defining Australia’s economic and democratic future.
“The HR Nicholls Society was never intended to be a passive observer of decline,” Mr Parry said. “It was founded to challenge complacency and confront ideas that hold Australia back. James has spent his career doing exactly that. His appointment ensures HR Nicholls will once again be a leading voice for reform, not an organisation resigned to managing decline.”
“The asymmetry of power between unions and employers has created an environment in which many businesses - large and small - are reluctant to publicly engage in industrial relations debate for fear of commercial or reputational consequences.”
“However, as an organisation whose sole focus is on re-adjusting the balance and fighting for reform, HR Nicholls is perfectly placed to take on the opportunity to properly advocate for industrial relations reform,” said Mr Parry.
The appointment comes at a time of mounting concern about falling productivity, escalating complexity in workplace regulation, and the creeping normalisation of activist litigation. Against this backdrop, the Society sees an urgent need for clear-eyed analysis and unapologetic advocacy.
“I am honoured to take on this role, and I want to be clear that HR Nicholls will not shy away from contest,” Mr Mathias said.
“Federal Labor has embarked on the most expansive industrial relations intervention in a generation following more than 61 significant legislative changes in just three years. Over 120 modern awards, extensive tribunal discretion, expanding multi-employer bargaining, and a rising volume of unfair dismissal and general protections claims have combined to create a system where hiring is risky, costly, and legally fraught,” he said.
“I’ve spoken to many business leaders and their employees who tell me Australia has the most complex industrial framework in the world. Over more than 15 years of relentless regulatory accumulation, complexity is stifling growth, deterring investment and eroding confidence in our economy and institutions,” he said. “The task ahead is not tinkering at the edges but pursuing serious reform. HR Nicholls has an essential role to play in making that case every day.”
Small and medium-sized employers, once the engine of job creation, increasingly report hesitation to take on employees, particularly young workers, because the cost of getting employment “wrong” is too high. Even well-intentioned employers face litigation exposure for technical breaches of complex rules.
“For large businesses with legal and HR departments, this complexity is burdensome. For small businesses the burden of complexity is significantly deterring that next hire or hiring at all.”
“The problems Australia now faces are not marginal. They are structural. Our global competitiveness is under genuine threat when we know capital is mobile and will always flow to where it is easier to operate,” he said.
As Executive Director, Mr Mathias will lead the Society’s strategic and policy agenda, expand its influence in national debate, deepen engagement with policymakers and opinion leaders, and reinforce its role as a forum where difficult questions about workplace relations, the courts and economic governance are confronted rather than avoided.
Founded to advance reform, the HR Nicholls Society remains committed to defending the principles of enterprise, and the rule of law in Australia’s public life.
ENDS
MEDIA CONTACT
James Mathias, Executive Director
+61 418 858 925
James.mathias@hrnicholls.com.au
