The main concern of this paper is to review the strategic status of HRM in Australia and to identify the roles and skills required of practitioners to achieve this status. To assess the status of HRM, evidence from several recent studies will be reviewed. International comparison will also be made with studies from New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Subsequent discussion will focus on the three different roles (namely strategic, consultancy, service roles) required to improve the professional reputational effectiveness of these HRM practitioners. To perform these roles effectively, three different categories of skills must be acquired, such as (i) strategic; (ii) organisational; and (iii) personal skills. Consistent with the trend in the decentralisation of HRM to line managers, the future direction of Australian HRM is to form a collaborative business partnership with line managers to ensure enhancement of their organisational and professional status in the new millennium.