Professor Peter Sheldon

My bachelor’s degree was in economics with honours in industrial relations (IR), my PhD in Australian IR history, my postdoctoral fellowship in sociology. I like to think that using diverse social science and historical approaches can help us better explain our world. My experiences of living and working in Italy and Israel have also encouraged me to dop international comparative research. Much of my research has been on employer associations: in Australia, Italy, South Korea, Sweden, Singapore and China. Some of that work analyses their outward-facing roles, particularly in relation to collective bargaining, policy development and lobbying. More recently, I have been investigating their internal dynamics, as voluntary organisations facing uncertain times.  

I have also published extensively on international trends in collective bargaining, on Australian IR history, and on HRM in China, particularly on how firms there respond to local skills shortages. As Director of the Industrial Relations Research Centre at UNSW, I am also actively involved in researching and public speaking on ‘Just Transition’ options for coal-energy workers and their communities. 

My main educational focus – and passion – has involved designing and teaching courses in negotiation skills: to undergraduates, coursework master students, AGSM MBA students (Hong Kong), and in company-customised executive education through the AGSM.

Research Grants:

• 2009: Boedker, C.; Cogin, J.A.; Meagher, K.; Mouritsen, J.; Sheldon, P. & Vidgen, R., Australian Government, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace relations. 'Leadership, culture and management practices for high performing workplaces in Australia', $515,000

Research Interests:

• Employer associations in Australia, East Asia and Europe
• Australian industrial relations: history and contemporary
• Comparative international employment relations
• Employment relations in Italy, China and Korea