Glenn Lazarus (Queensland, Palmer United Party) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (3) on sheet 7625:

(1) Clause 8, page 8 (line 4), after "wage", insert ", indexed in accordance with the method in section 8A".

(2) Clause 8, page 8 (lines 15 to 22), omit subclause (5), substitute:

(5) In this Act:

  actual wage means the total wages, worked out in accordance with the rules, that a person was paid in respect of all eligible days for the person.

  productivity -scored wage means the total wages, worked out in accordance with the rules, that the person could reasonably have been expected to have been paid in respect of all eligible days for the person if the productivity component of a BSWAT assessment had comprised the whole of the BSWAT assessment.

(3) Page 8 (after line 22), after clause 8, insert:

8A Indexation

(1) This is how to index the excess of a productivity-scored wage over an actual wage for the purposes of paragraph 8(3)(a):

Method statement

Step 1. Work out how much of the excess is attributable to wages in respect of eligible days for the person concerned in each financial year. Each such amount is the annual portion for the financial year.

Step 2. Multiply the oldest annual portion by the indexation factor specified in subsection (2) for the financial year to which that portion is attributable. If the result is not an amount of whole dollars, round the result up to the nearest whole dollar.

Step 3. Take the result of step 2. Add to it any annual portion for the next financial year (unless it is the 2014-2015 financial year, in which case go to step 4). Multiply:

(a) the total; or

(b) if there is no annual portion for the next financial year—the result of step 2;

by the indexation factor specified in subsection (2) for that next financial year. If the result is not an amount of whole dollars, round the result up to the nearest whole dollar.

Reapply this step for each subsequent financial year up to and including the 2013-2014 financial year, substituting the result of the previous application of this step for the result of step 2.

Step 4. Take the result of step 3. Add to it any annual portion for the 2014-2015 financial year.

Step 5. If the result is not an amount of whole dollars, round the result up to the nearest whole dollar.

(2) The indexation factors are the following:

  (a) 1.025 for the 2003-2004 financial year;

  (b) 1.025 for the 2004-2005 financial year;

  (c) 1.04 for the 2005-2006 financial year;

  (d) 1.021 for the 2006-2007 financial year;

  (e) 1.044 for the 2007-2008 financial year;

  (f) 1.014 for the 2008-2009 financial year;

  (g) 1.031 for the 2009-2010 financial year;

  (h) 1.035 for the 2010-2011 financial year;

  (i) 1.02 for the 2011-2012 financial year;

  (j) 1.024 for the 2012-2013 financial year;

  (k) 1.03 for the 2013-2014 financial year.

(3) This section does not apply if:

  (a) the productivity-scored wage does not exceed the actual wage; or

  (b) all eligible days for the person concerned were in the 2014-2015 financial year.

I rise today to confirm that Palmer United will be supporting this bill, subject to the Senate chamber's support of the Palmer United Party's proposed amendments to this bill.

This bill seeks to provide a one-off payment to approximately 10,000 people across Australia with an intellectual disability who are working or have worked in supported employment with an Australian Disability Enterprise and have been remunerated with wages calculated under the Business Services Wage Assessment Tool. Given that we are aware of the history of the bill, I will not go into detail about the events that have led us up to this point. However, I will make the point that it is important that we, as representatives of the people of Australia, put things right by providing payments to those affected. While it is important that we put things right, it is also important that we ensure that the payments are sufficient. To ensure this, the amendments that I have circulated across the chamber will ensure that the people benefiting from this bill will receive a make-good, one-off payment, inclusive of CPI increases, backdated and compounded, which will significantly increase the financial value of the payments.

In my home state of Queensland I have met with workplaces affected by this bill. Andrew Donne, CEO of the Endeavour Foundation, one of Australia's largest employers of people with a disability, has taken me on a tour of the Toowoomba Endeavour Foundation facility. This workplace offers a supportive and nurturing environment for Australians with a disability. It is a positive workplace that actively involves people with a disability and the opportunity to be part of the workforce and to experience the social—

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This workplace offers a supportive and nurturing environment for Australians with a disability. It is a positive workplace which actively involves people with a disability the opportunity to be part of the workforce and to experience the social and economic positives that workplaces provide. I have spoken to parents of young adults with a disability who work in the Endeavour Foundation facility. The parents have advised me that the Endeavour Foundation provides an important means of integration and socialisation for their children. The parents of these young adults do not want to be part of legal action. They are happy to accept the payment from the Commonwealth government. These people do not want to be drawn through the courts and to be subjected to lengthy, ugly, stressful and protracted legal battles. All these parents want is a place where their children can work that is supportive, inclusive and considerate of the needs of their children.

The bill will provide a fair payment for work undertaken and it will also, through the Palmer United Party amendment, ensure that the payment is significantly higher than the original offering. Alongside this payment, recipients will also receive complimentary legal advice, financial advice and, importantly, immunity from any taxation of government support payments implications which may arise from these payments.

Palmer United supports these bills subject to the adoption of our amendments to increase the value of the payments made under these bills. Therefore, I strongly urge all of my Senate colleagues to do the right thing and to support my amendments.