Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Yes, I am sure it does. There has been widespread consultation. Employers covered by this legislation have commented, as have the ACTU and members of the Safety, Rehabilitation Compensation Commission. There have been 29 submissions received and comments were taken into account when this bill was finally put together. The reforms will repeal and replace the current Commonwealth Occupational Health and Safety Act. The coverage of this bill remains similar to the OH&S Act insofar as it will apply only to Commonwealth public authorities and for a transitional period, as I said at the beginning of my contribution, to non-Commonwealth licensees.

This has been a long time coming. For the majority of Australia's history, when it comes to occupational health and safety and many other issues the states and the Commonwealth have in effect operated as separate nations through operating separate jurisdictions. By implementing this agreed model there will be some very important changes to occupational health and safety regulations in the Commonwealth and they will be mirrored in the states. That will advantage all the parties I have already identified—businesses, employers, workers, unions; all those involved in occupational health and safety. The bill will also ensure that occupational health and safety committees operate in the same way in the Commonwealth and in the states and that both employers and workers have rights and know their rights. When the changes in the bill are brought in, they will provide for a wider range of contemporary work relationships: contractors, employees, contractors, subcontractors, labour hire workers, apprentices and volunteers.

Labour hire workers, contractors and subcontractors have fallen through the cracks on many occasions when they have been injured or when they have needed to undertake training in proper safety. Because of their status in the workforce—they do not really fit into any particular pigeonhole—they often have not been provided with the same sort of training, compensation, coverage and access to occupational health and workplace safety as other workers have. This legislation addresses this, and that is a very important aspect of the legislation.

There is a new statutory right for workers to cease unsafe work in certain circumstances. I know that most members of this parliament will have been approached by workers who have been forced to work in unsafe conditions. One case that was brought to my attention was of a person who was welding in the rain and was ordered to continue doing that. That person ended up having a serious accident, and the employer refused to call an ambulance because they did not want to have the accident reported to New South Wales WorkCover. But now, under this legislation, when it is mirrored in New South Wales and enacted in the Commonwealth, workers will be able to say, 'I'm not going to do that,' and they will be backed up by their right to say that.

Under the legislation there will be tougher penalties for failing to meet the duty of care as well as a removal of the Commonwealth immunity from criminal prosecution and a wider range of enforcement options, including infringement notices, remedial orders, adverse publicity orders, training orders and orders for restoration. These are all very important changes which will make our workplaces safer and have a positive impact for both employers and workers.

The bill also includes provisions to deal with issues that are specific to the Commonwealth. It will extend the application of work health and safety laws to members of the defence forces and other persons currently deemed to be employees for the purposes of the current OHS Act. It will also enable the Chief of the Defence Force and the Director-General of Security to disapply specific provisions of the act and establish Comcare as the sole regulator of OHS in the Commonwealth. This is good, important, groundbreaking legislation that will change the way OHS operates not only in the Commonwealth but also throughout Australia.

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