Resolving Disputes with the State

Resolving Disputes with the State

Three non – legal methods of resolving disputes with the state are:

a) The Media

b) Trade Unions

c) Interest groups, including non - government organisations

Three legal methods of resolving disputes with the state are:

a) The Courts

b) The office of the Ombudsman

c) Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC)

Non-legal Methods

Sending e-mails, writing letters or even calling up television and radio stations gives a way for citizens to inform the media of a decision the State Government may have decided to enforce that it may be unfair, unjust or even harsh. The Media tend to overturn a decision in some instances as it has occurred and it is normally done over media pressure. The way it’s done is that individuals or pressure groups may constantly appear on the television and radio and the government may choose to listen to it and decide whether they should reverse a policy put into place and this is a strength that the media have. The weaknesses of the media are that they don’t have a legal power to overturn and reverse decisions. Media pressure is the only source of power they have against the government. Other than that they don’t have much legal power to decide and have no legal standing.

Trade unions are groups of people from various working industries who come together to create trade unions to protect their rights and conditions of employment. Unions try to help by negotiating a workplace agreement that contains important information about workplace safety, wages and condition. The strengths of trade unions is that it protects people’s rights at work and workplace safety as well safety on their wages. The weaknesses are that they cannot physically change the protection the people have in workplaces only protest the fact that the people should have it and they do have it. The trade unions can only put pressure onto the government to allow these protections and to put them into place....