Rate My Professor Mark Bray

Emeritus Professor Mark Bray is an Emeritus Professor in the Newcastle Business School (Human Resource Management) at the University of Newcastle. He held the Foundation Chair in Employment Studies from 1997 until early 2021. Prior to this appointment, he held positions at the Universities of New South Wales, Wollongong, and Sydney. His academic qualifications include a PhD from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Economics (Honours) from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Arts from the University of Warwick in England. Bray has held several leadership roles at the University of Newcastle, including Head of the Management and Business Schools, Head of the Employee Relations and Human Resource Management Discipline, and various Assistant Deanships. He maintains honorary professor positions at RMIT University and the University of Sydney.

Mark Bray's research interests center on workplace cooperation, particularly the role of industrial tribunals in promoting cooperation and performance, and the structures and processes of labour regulation, including labour law, collective bargaining, and awards. Additional focuses include industrial relations and human resource management in industries such as health, road transport, airlines, electricity generation, aluminium smelting, and hospitality; human resource management in multinational corporations; national and industry differences in labour regulation; the complexity of labour regulation; and industrial relations public policy. He is the lead author of Australia's leading textbook, Employment Relations: Theory and Practice (McGraw-Hill, multiple editions since 2005, with Peter Waring, Rae Cooper, and Johanna Macneil), and co-author of Cooperation at Work: How Tribunals Can Help Transform Workplaces (Federation Press, 2017, with Johanna Macneil and Andrew Stewart). Key journal articles include 'Still central: Change and continuity in Australia's major industrial tribunal' (Industrial Relations Journal, 2023, with Johanna Macneil) and annual contributions to 'Unions and collective bargaining in Australia' (Journal of Industrial Relations, various years). In 2019, he received the Vic Taylor Distinguished Long-Term Contribution Award from the Association of Industrial Relations Academics of Australia and New Zealand. Bray has supervised 15 PhD completions, secured 25 research grants totaling $458,506, including an ARC Linkage Grant, and participated in policy reviews such as the 2024-2025 Review of the Secure Jobs, Better Pay Act. He is a Life Member of the Industrial Relations Society of NSW (Newcastle Branch).