Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise knowing that the bells will ring at any moment on the second half of the closing loopholes legislation. It is good to be standing here, knowing that in this part of the House, and in the chamber, we are debating industrial relations. And we need to, because, as the previous speaker for the opposition just demonstrated, there's a lot of education that we need to do in relation to the bill that passed the parliament in the last sittings. Deputy Speaker, I'm the chair and you're the deputy chair of the Employment, Education and Training Committee, and we've already been advised, through that role, that the Fair Work Ombudsman will start the education process for employers to understand what their obligations are under the new law that has since been adopted.

The industry associations representing hospitality workers, like the AHA, do not share the same fears as the previous speaker because they understand that the new requirement under the casual conversion clause is, if the person is regularly doing the same hours, consistently has the same roster, then there is an opportunity for that worker to convert to those hours. It's not about creating a full-time job if that full-time job doesn't exist. It's about saying that you cannot continue to roll somebody over as a casual, with those opportunities to dismiss when you like, if they continually do the same roster. It's strengthening the casual conversion clause that already exists.

It's not fair for members to come into the House and spread misinformation. It's just not fair. We need to make sure that we're working off the facts and that, when we're talking to small businesses in our community, they understand what their obligations are. They should talk to their industry association. They should talk to the Fair Work Ombudsman. Before dismissing anybody, find out what your obligations are and what these new laws mean.

What I really respect about what the parliament did at the end of last year, before we took the break, was the legislation that we adopted that stopped labour hire companies being used to underpay workers. Far too often in this country, when I've gone out to workplaces, whether they be in the mining industry or in manufacturing, you meet people who've consistently been doing the same job as the person next to them—they have the same job title, they have the same experience and they're doing the same job—yet one is being paid less than the other. That's because they're hired by a labour hire company. It's just not fair. The minimum standards in that particular workplace, if you work for labour hire, are those in the award—or those in an enterprise agreement, if one has been struck with that particular employer. The minimum standards for the worker, in many cases, are those in the enterprise agreement that has been struck, that has been built up over years to a certain level of conditions. So labour hire—and this was completely legal—was being used as a way to underpay those workers.

What the closing the loopholes legislation did was to change that to say: 'For the same workers doing the same job with the same relevant experience, site rates must apply.' This is good legislation. This is about closing a loophole and restoring fairness and integrity. It encourages employers to look at those labour hire workers and work out who they want to bring onto their books.

Introducing a new criminal offence for industrial manslaughter is important. This is about changing culture on our worksites and making employers, in the most grievous of situations, accountable. We've seen it used already in Victoria, for the owner of the truck company who allowed his driver to drive far too many shifts in a row, for far too many hours, which led to the tragic killing of those police officers on the Monash Freeway. This legislation is about saying to employers and companies: 'You have a responsibility to make sure that your workers are working safely and fairly.'

We're protecting workers who are subject to family and domestic violence from discrimination in the workplace. Again, we're making sure that we're lifting standards and supporting women to not lose their job when they're going through this tough moment in their lives. We've expanded the functions of the former Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency to include silica—again, an important reform that passed the parliament back in December.

These changes strengthen our industrial relations laws. They will help employers and employees in their workplaces. These changes make our workplaces safer. They close the loopholes and give workers and employers the opportunity to work more closely together.

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