The rights and obligations of employers and employees can be affected by statute - that is, by Acts of Parliament. These may be either Federal or State statutes. Where there is both a Federal and a State Act on the same matter, the Federal Act will override the State Act where there is any inconsistency. However, employment issues are mostly dealt with at State level, because the matters on which the Federal Parliament can legislate are limited by the Constitution. The Federal Parliament can legislate for systems of arbitration to prevent and settle industrial disputes; but in relation to individual employment issues - between employer and employee rather than between employer and union - the Federal Parliament can only legislate about employment in corporations, in the Territories, in the Commonwealth public service or about issues dealt with in international treaties or conventions which Australia has signed or ratified (for example, sex discrimination).

These Acts, and the employment rights and obligations they create, provide further rights to those given by employment contracts. This will have the effect that, in certain cases, a contractual right cannot be enforced because it is contradicted by an Act. For example, a contractual right to dismiss an employee on a week's notice would be unenforceable where there is a statutory right to two weeks notice. With that qualification, the two sets of rights can co-exist and can be enforced in the relevant court or tribunal. If a contract states the employee shall receive two weeks paid holiday per year, the employee can go to the ordinary civil courts to enforce that right, or can go to the industrial tribunal to enforce the right to four weeks paid holiday per year provided in the Annual Holidays Act (NSW).

The matters covered by the statutory provision of rights are wide-reaching and of obvious importance to workers - there are statutes relating to paid annual holidays, compensation after work-related injury, long-service leave, prohibition on discrimination, provision of safe and healthy workplaces, protection against unfair dismissal, and (most recently) rights to privacy.

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