Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I again indicate what we said prior to the election. Obviously the government did have to consider in opposition, when putting forward our policy commitments and our implementation plan, the need to deal with transition arrangements and the need for some certainty in the workplace as we moved to a new system. The government’s policy as set out prior to the election is that AWAs made prior to the implementation date of this bill, Labor’s transition bill, will remain in force and may only be terminated in accordance with current rules. These rules allow termination by agreement between the parties during the term of the AWA or termination by one party when providing 90-days notice to the other after the nominal expiry date. Under our policy, if an AWA is terminated in such circumstances, then the employee will revert to an existing collective agreement in the workplace or, where there is no collective agreement, will revert to the award, and obviously the Fair Pay and Conditions Standard will also continue to apply.