Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the debate on the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023. Article 23 of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights deals with employment and workplaces. The article states:

Everyone has the right to … just and favourable conditions of work.

Article 23 then goes on to add:

Everyone … has the right to equal pay for equal work—

and 'just and favourable remuneration', and 'the right to form and join trade unions'. I know that scares those opposite, but it is there.

Australia was one of only eight nations involved in the drafting of the declaration. Both HV Evatt and Fred Whitlam, the father of my predecessor in Werriwa, were actively involved in drafting the document. Importantly, Australia committed itself to the document at the earliest opportunity by being an original signatory in 1948. These points are important because the bill before us today adds further layers to our country's commitment to those original principles espoused all those years ago. Workplace rights are just that; they are rights. They are not just rights for some; they should be universal. And those rights need constant attention.

This country has seen in recent years any number of attacks on workers and their rights. Who could forget Work Choices in 2005? Certainly not the workers of this country; their rights to collective bargaining and protection from unfair dismissal were severely threatened and curtailed. And certainly not the unions; their power to protect the rights of their members was similarly threatened to the point of extinction. Thankfully, the Australian public completely rejected the extremist Work Choices agenda. At the ensuing federal election in 2007, the then Prime Minister lost not only government but his seat. It was a devastating indictment of a leader in a government that went way too far. It was equally an emphatic demonstration that the Australian public want workplace protections. They want to be treated fairly and respectfully in the workplace. In short, they don't want to be ripped off. Those of us on this side of the chamber have always known this. Protecting the worker and their rights isn't something we pay lip service to. It isn't something we just note and then file away. On the contrary, it's something we passionately believe in. That's why I'm delighted to speak on this bill today.

This bill, in a very real way, builds on the spirit and essence of article 23. Back then, just after the war, workplaces were very different. There weren't gig workers or a gig economy, and casual work was nowhere as common as it is now. So this bill is timely, the way all good legislation is—that is, it addresses very real and contemporary issues and the changes it seeks to bring forward are not radical. They are necessary and are changes that I think those who drafted article 23 would agree with.

The legislation before the House today will implement the next tranche of industrial relations reform and implement the policies the Albanese government took to the last election—and you know what? We won that election. This legislation will strengthen workers' rights and ensure Australians can continue to seek well-paid and secure work. We've seen the continued rise of casualisation and whilst some employees enjoy the flexibility, this is not always the case. Many Australians are classified as casuals yet work the same number of hours as full-time employees but without job security and entitlements afforded to full-time employees. This bill will legislate a new, fair and objective definition of what it means to be a casual employee and provide workers with two pathways to change their status. The first is through the employee choice pathway that allows casual employees to notify their employer that they believe their status has changed. The second is through the existing casual conversion pathway, an obligation on large and medium-sized employers to assess all their casuals and offer them conversion if they have a regular work pattern and 12 months of service.

Importantly, the changes are about choice—the choice for casual workers who work regular hours to convert to a more secure classification should they wish but also the choice to say no should they wish to stay casual. These new pathways require active and conscious decisions. No-one will be forced to convert. The new framework will support more Australians to move into secure work because they deserve to have certainty and entitlements that help them plan their lives. Employees will be able to seek reclassification under the new pathways six months from 1 July 2024 or 12 months from 1 July 2024 if they are employed by a small business.

The second major reform in this bill relates to labour hire. Labour hire plays an important role in many industries, providing surge and specialist workforces. However, there is a glaring flaw in the current system, a loophole that undermines the pay and conditions of workers. That is the use of labour hire to undercut and undermine enterprise agreements between a workforce and their employer by using a labour hire workforce that is paid and entitled to less than current workers. It is a loophole that undermines workers and undermines the simple principle that workers should be paid the same amount for the same job. This is the loophole that this bill seeks to close. It empowers the Fair Work Commission to order that labour hire employees be paid the same wages as in an existing enterprise agreement covering their employer in circumstances which are fair and reasonable. From royal assent of this bill, employers, employees and unions can make applications to the Fair Work Commission for such an order to be made should they believe the circumstances are warranted. From 1 November 2024, the orders become enforceable. If you work the same job you should get the same pay as your colleagues. It's that simple. It's an extension of the fair and egalitarian society that we believe Australia is.

The third major reform in this bill regulates to the gig economy. The gig economy has been on the rise for several years and, whilst it has brought with it flexibility for both consumers and workers, it has unfortunately lowered the workplace rights that many of us take for granted. The gig economy is part of our economy now and, as such, should be subject to the regulations that protect workers from both exploitation and harm. Since 2017, 14 workers have lost their lives in the transport gig economy and, unfortunately, that number may be a low estimate. Each worker has a right to be safe at work, to be able to come home safely at the end of the day, no matter what their employment status is. We know that there is a direct link between low rates of pay and safety. It leads to workers taking risks as they try to make ends meet. Workers in the gig economy, just like all workers, deserve minimum pay and conditions. Australia is not the US. We will not become a nation that forces our lowest paid in society to rely on tips to survive.

The measures in this bill will strengthen the powers of the Fair Work Commission, giving them the ability to set minimum standards for employee-like independent contractors who work in the gig economy. It will allow employee-like collective agreements between employee-like workers to come to an agreement with digital labour platforms. It will protect workers against unfair deactivation and extend protections that already cover employees to cover employee-like workers. Workers in the gig economy deserve minimum standards, they deserve to get home safely and they deserve fair pay.

This bill will also introduce similar measures in the road transport industry. Much like in the gig economy, workers in the transport industry are in a race to the bottom, creating an environment for unsafe and unsustainable practices. An environment that leads to unsafe work practices goes against the hard work of the thousands of workers who have fought for better conditions not just here in Australia but across the world. The Fair Work Commission will now be empowered to set a minimum standard in the road transport industry, a key measure proposed at last year's Jobs and Skills Summit.

To ensure that the Fair Work Commission is adequately advised on minimum standards, an expert panel on the road transport industry will be established within the commission. It will be comprised of people with expertise and contractors or businesses that represent the road transport industry. Similar to the measures introduced for gig economy workers, a new collective agreement-making framework will be created, allowing workers to negotiate better pay and conditions. Eligible contractors will also gain protections against unfair contract terminations and can apply to the commission to seek a remedy.

This bill also introduces an industrial manslaughter offence in the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 and increases penalties, because, again, being safe at work is a right. It is the expectation of all workplaces that they provide a safe work environment, and breaching work health and safety duties should carry serious and significant penalties. The new offence—

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