Chris Trevor (Flynn, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to support the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Amendment Bill 2009, a bill that will ensure the unique long service leave arrangements that are already in place in the black coal mining industry will continue to operate as effectively as they have been. The bill will clarify that the existing long service leave entitlements preserved by the Fair Work Act 2009 will be covered by the funding act and will effectively preserve existing arrangements for hardworking employees in the black coal mining industry with respect to long service leave. The bill will also ensure employers that make long service leave payments to employees are reimbursed from the fund. Other changes include the introduction of definitions of ‘black coal mining industry’, ‘employee’ and ‘employer’ and the amendment of the definition of ‘eligible employee’ to make certain that the scheme applies universally in the black coal mining industry.

The bill is about providing certainty for the workers and employers of the black coal mining industry. It is about providing rock-solid legislation that will not only preserve the current security that is felt by the workers of the industry with regard to their long service leave entitlements and the reimbursement of employers in the industry for long service leave payments but also ensure its future longevity. This bill will update the laws to allow them to work cooperatively with the modernisation of the workplace relations systems and guarantee a secure, certain future for the employers and employees of the black coal mining industry in relation to long service leave.

Under the current legislation, long service leave entitlements are dictated by industrial instruments, namely awards and workplace agreements, and from contracts of employment. The important factor to note is that, unlike in many other industries, the eligibility of an employee in the black coal mining industry for long service leave entitlements is determined by their length of service in the industry, not their service with a particular employer. Their length of service with a particular employer has no impact on their eligibility for long service leave entitlements. It is determined independently by their length of service in the industry. Currently this is supported by an industry scheme established by the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Act 1992 and other related legislation, including the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Act 1992 and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992. The bill today is amending the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Act 1992 and the other legislation I have just mentioned.

The amendments in this bill aim at ensuring that the long service leave scheme applies universally in the black coal mining industry. This will be achieved by introducing a definition for ‘black coal mining industry’ in the funding act, which flows through to the other related legislation. This definition has been added to align the act’s definition with the definition in the coal award, which will effectively provide consistent coverage. In particular, this amendment will ensure that the reimbursement of employers from the fund for long service payments made to an eligible employee are matched over time by contributions into the fund with respect to that employee. It will also make sure that the long service leave entitlements of employees are portable.

The bill will also introduce definitions for ‘employee’ and ‘employer’ and will amend the definition of ‘eligible employee’. These definitions will be made more accurate by these changes to provide clarity as to their meaning and make certain that the scheme applies universally in the black coal mining industry.

Another change that this bill will bring that will assist further with the universal application of this long service leave scheme for all workers in the black coal mining industry pertains to the allocation of the Coal Mining Industry (Production and Engineering) Consolidated Award 1997 to be extended to all eligible employees who do not otherwise have long service leave entitlements derived from an award. This effectively means that all eligible employees who do not have an award-derived long service leave entitlement will be deemed to have such an entitlement by reference to the main industry award. This will ensure that the bill will apply to all workers in the black coal mining industry by providing scope for more people to have coverage for their long service leave entitlements, which will in turn ensure that more employees of the industry can receive their long service leave entitlements and all employers of these eligible workers can be reimbursed for the long service leave payments that they make to them.

These amendments and additions aim at ensuring that all employees in the black coal mining industry are granted the long service leave entitlements they deserve. Industry stakeholders have suggested to the government that these definitions and changes will provide greater certainty to the scope and definition of the existing scheme, which seems logical and sensible and is thus the reason they have been included.

Another of the major amendments in this bill aims at protecting employers within the black coal mining industry by ensuring they are reimbursed for any long service leave payments they make to eligible employees in respect of their long service leave entitlements. In the past, employers have been reimbursed for these payments from the Coal Mining Industry Long Service Leave Fund, as stipulated in the funding act. The issue that has arisen with this particular aspect of the legislation is that once the present industry awards are superseded by the modern awards under the Fair Work Act 2009, which will not include long service leave entitlements, the funding act will not cover the reimbursement. This is because of the change in legislation covering long service leave entitlements. Existing award based entitlements will be preserved as a statutory entitlement under the National Employment Standards, pending of course on the development of national long service leave arrangements. As the funding act does not currently cover entitlements determined by the National Employment Standards, employers will not be entitled to the reimbursements.

Fortunately, the amendments in this bill will change this and prevent the situation from occurring. The changes ensure that employers will be entitled to reimbursement from the fund for any long service leave payments they make to employees pursuant to the preserved entitlements in the Fair Work Act 2009, which is in addition to the current arrangements for their reimbursement of entitlements paid under industrial instruments and contracts. Although this is a vital change, it will have absolutely no impact on employees’ long service leave entitlements or employers’ long service leave fund obligations; it is merely correcting a technicality.

The amendments in this bill will act to preserve the arrangements already in place for employees in the industry. For the people of Flynn, where numerous deposits of black coal are located, this is an extremely positive step towards maintaining the conditions they are currently operating under. It will ensure that the hardworking men and women of Flynn who are working in coal will continue to receive their long service leave entitlements and that many new workers in the black coal mining industry can accumulate and achieve their long service leave entitlements as well. It will mean that they will not miss out on their entitlements, and it will also mean that employers will continue to be reimbursed for the payments of these entitlements to eligible employees. Overall, this means more employees in the black coal mining industry will be covered in terms of long service leave and their employers will continue to be reimbursed by the fund for long service leave payments made to eligible employees. The black coal mining workers and employers not only in my home electorate of Flynn but across Australia will benefit from this bill. This is great news.

It seems obvious that passing this bill is a positive step towards retaining the current arrangements with regard to the long service leave entitlements for both the employers and the employees in the industry. It has the best interests of the men and women working for, and the employers of, the industry. The bill has the support of key stakeholders from the industry. By passing the bill, we can put in place measures to make certain that the scheme that is already in place continues to ensure these workers do not miss out on their entitlements, irrespective of how many different employers they work for in the industry. The government has considered the best interests of all the stakeholders involved with the issue and it has their support.

The changes in the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Amendment Bill 2009 are vital to ensure the preservation of long service leave entitlements for the workers of the black coal mining industry and the reimbursement of employers from the fund with respect to these payments to eligible employees. It is for all of these reasons that I commend this bill to the House.

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