Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill. It is nothing short of unconscionable that in 2022 we are here in this place to justify this important legislation to get wages moving, while those opposite are trying to stop pay rises. This bill is about fighting for fair pay and fair work rights for everyone so that no one is left behind. This is a no-brainer. This, first and foremost, is about job security. It is about powering up our economy to get stagnant wages moving. It is about modernising a workplace relations system that has been lagging behind where it should be in 2022. It is about removing elements that hinder, such as built-in secrecy provisions, and bringing those systems up to standards Australians expect and deserve. It is also about gender equality. We talk about the gender pay gap, but really it is more of a cavern. It is currently sitting at 14.1 per cent. Men continue to earn more than women—on average, $263 more a week. To earn the same average annual salary earned by men, women would need to work 60 more days after the end of the financial year. We are working through the secure jobs, better pay bill to close the gender pay gap.

This bill is so long overdue—we have just experienced almost a decade of neglect from those opposite. We must use the opportunity we have here in this place to make real and positive changes and to enact desperately needed transformations to support Australian workers, rights and employment protections. Not only is this bill needed right now, at this time, but also, importantly, it is necessary to build positive foundations for the future and for our growing electorates, to strengthen communities and to contribute to Australia's broad prosperity. It will provide better and fairer work places for Australians in the decades ahead. That is important to residents in my electorate of Pearce, many of whom are young workers or young families with a mortgage, living in outer-metropolitan growth areas. Many have long distances to travel to their place of employment. Many have insecure jobs and rely on child care in order to work and earn a living to support their families. Our fellow Australians, who vote for us and who have given us the great privilege of being part of this parliament's decision-making process, should be able to count on all of us to deliver and to enable financial independence for those within our communities.

Two new Fair Work Commission expert panels on pay equality will be established for the female dominated care and community sector—an often undervalued, underpaid and insecure sector. We should not have to be reminded how crucial carers are for our society to function and how they provide a decent standard of care and dignity when we have elderly parents, children, and family members living with a disability. The work of those carers and early educators should not and must never be underestimated nor undervalued. These panels will ensure the necessary expertise is available in the commission.

I remind you all that the point of this legislation is: to provide improved job security; to provide better workplace conditions, including fair and equal pay; to create the appropriate circumstances to enable gender equity; and to ensure workers and employers have better frameworks in which to work together to improve our workplace relations protections. For too long, the previous government failed—and failed miserably—to act to improve our economy and industrial relations systems. What the previous government did was make decisions and choose to actively suppress wages, so it is vitally important that we now support change that will allow pay rises for those who need it the most. We can do this by ensuring our workers can bargain for better pay and conditions, and for increased job security, so that they have more money for living healthily and well—not just fighting to pay bills and trying to make ends meet.

This bill will ban secrecy clauses that currently allow companies to prohibit staff from talking about their pay. That secrecy can serve to cover up the inequity of wages between workers, and the disparity of wages between men and women. If you don't know you're being paid less because you and your colleagues can't talk legally, how can you talk about it? This bill will promote and improve transparency. We should all welcome that. It will reduce the very real risk of gender pay discrimination. It will empower women to ask their employers for a pay rise for just and deserved better pay.

This government is committed to job security becoming an important part of the workplace relations system. A new dispute resolution system at the Fair Work Commission will also provide a welcome mechanism for all workers to access fast and informal opportunities to resolve what can be stressful workplaces. I have got to say: how can anyone argue against a much-needed increase in job security, fairness and integrity?

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