Jenny Ware (Hughes, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on this motion, which demonstrates Labor's interventionist approach to industrial relations in this country. This motion concerns the casual workers of Australia and is a concerted effort by the government to restrict casual work and demonise those employees who, for various reasons, choose this form of work.

The Australian labour market is diverse and provides various forms of work for people of different circumstances and different needs. There are currently 2.7 million casual employees in Australia. This represents approximately 23.5 per cent of all those employed. This percentage has essentially been unchanged for more than 25 years. In my electorate of Hughes there are approximately 15,000 casual workers. Casual workers receive an immediate 25 per cent leave loading on their wage instead of various forms of leave. The government is now proposing to redefine the notion of a casual employee, making it more difficult for Australian workers to choose higher take-home pay and flexibility when needed.

A new test on how a casual worker is defined could mean that people who have a regular work pattern can no longer be a casual employee. The casual work options are critically important to provide job opportunities for hundreds of thousands of students, parents, carers and others wanting flexibility in how and when they work and who prioritise higher take-home income over entitlements like leave. Casual work works particularly for our young, for those aged 18 to 34. Casual work works for them.

The government, however, and particularly unions, increasingly object to casual work as part of a campaign against insecure work. However, this argument makes no sense when, at present, with almost full employment and skill shortages, Australians who do not want to work casually have rarely had more options to pursue ongoing full- or part-time work. Casual work was, until recently, plagued by legal uncertainty and messy backpay risks. However, this was considered and then corrected by the High Court in 2021, resulting in the parliament legislating a clear and reliable definition of casual employment. That definition should remain. It is baffling to understand why the Labor government now wants to act against the interests of casual workers, the businesses in which they work and the wider community to deliberately recreate that uncertainty.

It is now easier than ever in the history of industrial relations in this country for casual employees to convert to permanent work, either full-time or part-time. The government has been vague in how it would redefine casual work. What is clear is that it is deliberately complicating the existing Fair Work Act to override the stated intention of an employer and an employee and the express basis on which casuals are hired, making casual work contingent on post-contractual conduct. This would require an ongoing and continuous re-examination of daily patterns of work, recreating uncertainty and deliberately reversing the successful and sensible corrections made by the High Court and parliament in 2021. It's also going to place additional administrative burdens on small businesses in particular and also medium-sized businesses. Those businesses in my electorate that I've spoken to about this have indicated that this could well result in the businesses simply cutting back on staff numbers overall, leading to increased unemployment.

Another consideration is that casual employees, particularly young people, are less likely to join trade unions. Casuals can also have different priorities in enterprise bargaining to union members working full-time and part-time. Therefore, the government legislating rights to convert them from casual to ongoing employment could simply be an opportunity to repay union mates with a view to swelling the ranks of union membership.

Casual work has been a legitimate part of Australian employment for more than a century. It is critical to doing business, attracting investment and supporting jobs. The government should take their hands off redefining the way that casual workers work in this country.

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