Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, 1995

AWIRS 95 was the second comprehensive workplace survey conducted by the Department of Industrial Relations. The AWIRS 95 data release includes data from both the original AWIRS project conducted in 1989/90 (AWIRS 90) and the second project conducted in 1995 (AWIRS 95). AWIRS 95 had similar objectives to the first AWIRS, in that it planned to: provide a comprehensive and statistically reliable data base on Australian workplace industrial relations; stimulate and inform community debate on workplace industrial relations issues; inform Government industrial relations policy development; and, ultimately help employers and unions improve economic performance through the development of more effective workplace industrial relations. The first AWIRS was conducted to address the lack of any systematic, comprehensive data base on workplace industrial relations in Australia. Previous studies were disparate in nature, and could not be aggregated as they covered a wide time frame and used a range of non-comparable methodologies. A main priority of AWIRS 90 was to establish the first cross-sectional picture of workplace industrial relations in Australia. The survey sought to collect information that would describe the different patterns of workplace industrial relations in order to map out the key features of workplace industrial relations structures, processes and outcomes. This is essentially what the major publication from the first AWIRS does (see R. Callus, A. Morehead, M. Cully and J. Buchanan, Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey, AGPS, Canberra, 1991). AWIRS 90 represented a benchmark against which changes could be judged. It was conducted in the expectation that future surveys would be able to measure changes at regular intervals of around five years. In this respect, the idea of an Australian series was modelled on the British program which has seen the conduct of three major workplace industrial relations surveys since 1980 and a fourth due in the field in the second half of 1997. Because it is the second survey and given the continuing rapid changes in the industrial relations system, AWIRS 95 had additional aims to those described for AWIRS 90. In particular, AWIRS 95 aimed to: assess changes that had taken place in workplace industrial relations since AWIRS 90; assess the direction of workplace reform and evaluate the impact of a range of industrial relations and labour market policies, with particular attention to the spread and nature of workplace bargaining; and, inform the annual reporting requirement under Section 170RC of the Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993 with regards to the effect of enterprise bargaining on particular population groups such as women, immigrants and part-time workers. In addition to the data files pertaining to the questionnaires and the derived variables, the AWIRS 95 data release also contains a number of data files of additional constructed data sets that researchers may find useful in conducting analysis. These constructed data sets are of three types: Data sets that combine variables that were common to both the main survey and small workplace survey in order to conduct analysis on the larger population of workplaces with five or more employees. Two such data sets have been constructed - one for AWIRS 90 and one for AWIRS 95 - and are known as the five-plus data sets. Data sets that combine variables that were common to both the AWIRS 90 and AWIRS 95 main and small workplace surveys in order to conduct analysis of change between the two surveys (that is, between 1990 and 1995). A data set of variables common to both years has been constructed for each of the four questionnaires in the main survey, for the small workplace survey and for the population of workplaces with five or more employees described in the previous point. These are known as the combined data sets. Data sets that combine variables that were common to both the AWIRS 90 main survey and AWIRS 95 panel survey for workplaces which exist in both surveys (that is, the sample of panel workplaces). A data set has been constructed for each of the four questionnaires that make up these two surveys. These are known as the matched data sets.

AWIRS 95是由工业关系部（Department of Industrial Relations）开展的第二次综合性职场调查。AWIRS 95数据发布包涵盖了1989/1990年实施的初代AWIRS项目（AWIRS 90）与1995年实施的第二代AWIRS项目（AWIRS 95）的全部数据。AWIRS 95的核心目标与初代AWIRS一脉相承，具体包括：建立一套全面且统计可靠的澳大利亚职场劳资关系数据库；激发并引导公众围绕职场劳资关系议题展开理性讨论；为政府劳资关系政策制定提供决策参考；最终助力雇主与工会通过优化职场劳资关系体系提升经济绩效。
初代AWIRS的开展初衷是填补澳大利亚职场劳资关系领域缺乏系统性、综合性数据库的空白。此前的相关研究较为零散，且因覆盖时间跨度不一、采用的方法论缺乏可比性而无法整合分析。AWIRS 90的核心任务之一是构建澳大利亚职场劳资关系的首份横截面图景。该调查旨在收集能够刻画职场劳资关系多元模式的数据，以明晰职场劳资关系的结构、流程与结果的核心特征。初代AWIRS的主要研究成果即遵循此逻辑（详见R. Callus、A. Morehead、M. Cully与J. Buchanan合著的《Industrial Relations at Work: The Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey》，澳大利亚政府出版服务局（AGPS, Australian Government Publishing Service），堪培拉，1991年）。
AWIRS 90作为基准调研，可用于后续评估职场劳资关系的变化。该项目的设计初衷是期望未来每隔约五年开展一次同类调研，以实现变化的周期性监测。在此层面上，澳大利亚的系列调研方案借鉴了英国的同类项目：英国自1980年以来已开展三次大型职场劳资关系调查，第四次调查计划于1997年下半年启动实地调研。
鉴于AWIRS 95是第二次调研，且澳大利亚劳资关系体系仍在快速变革，AWIRS 95除继承AWIRS 90的既定目标外，还新增了以下核心任务：评估自AWIRS 90实施以来职场劳资关系领域发生的变化；研判职场改革的方向，并评估一系列劳资关系与劳动力市场政策的实施效果，重点关注职场集体谈判的普及程度与实施模式；响应《1993年工业关系改革法案》（Industrial Relations Reform Act 1993）第170RC条的年度报告要求，针对企业集体谈判对女性、移民与兼职劳动者等特定群体的影响展开分析。
除了与调查问卷及衍生变量相关的数据文件外，AWIRS 95数据发布包还包含若干额外构建的数据集，供研究人员开展分析时使用。这些构建数据集可分为三类：
其一，合并了主调查与小型职场调查共通变量的数据集，用于对雇员人数≥5人的更大规模职场群体开展分析。我们已为AWIRS 90与AWIRS 95分别构建了此类数据集，统称为“五人以上数据集（five-plus data sets）”。
其二，合并了AWIRS 90与AWIRS 95的主调查及小型职场调查共通变量的数据集，用于开展两次调研（即1990年与1995年）之间的变化分析。我们已针对主调查的四份问卷、小型职场调查，以及前文提及的雇员人数≥5人的职场群体，分别构建了包含两年共通变量的数据集，统称为“合并数据集（combined data sets）”。
其三，合并了AWIRS 90主调查与AWIRS 95追踪调查中，两次调研均覆盖的职场（即追踪调研样本职场）共通变量的数据集。我们已为构成这两次调研的四份问卷分别构建了此类数据集，统称为“匹配数据集（matched data sets）”。