Anne Ruston (SA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move amendments (1) to (10) on sheet 1832 together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 1), omit the table item, substitute:

(2) Schedule 3, heading, page 57 (line 2), at the end of the heading, add "relating to Schedules 1 and 2".

(3) Schedule 3, item 2, page 57 (line 19), after "amendments made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(4) Schedule 3, item 2, page 57 (line 26), after "amendments made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(5) Schedule 3, item 2, page 58 (line 7), after "amendments made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(6) Schedule 3, item 2, page 58 (line 14), after "amendments made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(7) Schedule 3, item 2, page 59 (line 13), after "amendments made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(8) Schedule 3, item 7, page 61 (line 4), after "amendments or repeals made by", insert "Schedules 1 and 2 to".

(9) Schedule 3, item 7, page 61 (line 9), before "this Act", insert "Schedules 1, 2 and 3 to".

(10) Page 61 (after line 24), at the end of the Bill, add:

Schedule 4 — Payment of instalments

Pai d Parental Leave Act 2010

1 Section 4 (paragraph beginning "Part 3-5")

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

Part 3-5 is about employer determinations. If an employer determination is in force for an employer and a person, the employer must pay instalments to the person, unless the employer employs less than 50 employees. In that case, the employer may elect to pay instalments to the person. The Secretary must be satisfied that certain conditions have been met before the Secretary can make an employer determination.

2 Section 6 (definition of acceptance notice )

Omit "section 103", substitute "paragraphs 103(1)(a) and (2)(a)".

3 Section 6 (definition of employer determination )

Omit "section 101", substitute "subsections 101(1) and (1A)".

4 Section 6

Insert:

non-acceptance notice: see paragraph 103(2)(b).

5 Section 100 (paragraph beginning "This Part")

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

This Part is about employer determinations. If an employer determination is in force for an employer and a person, the employer must pay instalments to the person, unless the employer employs less than 50 employees. In that case, the employer may elect to pay instalments to the person.

6 Section 100 (paragraph beginning "If the Secretary makes")

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

If the Secretary makes an employer determination for a person and the person's employer and the employer employs 50 employees or more, the employer must:

(a) give the Secretary certain information to enable the Secretary to pay the employer PPL funding amounts for the person; or

(b) apply for review of the employer determination under Part 5-1 or 5-2.

If the Secretary makes an employer determination for a person and the person's employer and the employer employs fewer than 50 employees, the employer may elect to pay instalments to the person. If the employer does not make an election, the Secretary must pay instalments to the person.

7 Subsection 101(1)

Omit "under this section", substitute "under this subsection".

8 After paragraph 101(1)(a)

Insert:

(aa) the employer employs 50 or more employees; and

9 After subsection 101(1)

Insert:

(1A) The Secretary must make a determination under this section (the employer determination) that a person's employer is to pay the person instalments if the Secretary is satisfied, when making the determination, that:

(a) either:

(i) a payability determination under section 13 or 14 that parental leave pay is payable to the person for a child is in force; or

(ii) an initial eligibility determination under section 26A for the person in relation to a child is in force; and

(b) the employer employs fewer than 50 employees; and

(c) the employer has made an election under section 109 to pay instalments and that election applies to the person; and

(d) the person has consented in the claim to the employer paying instalments to the person; and

(e) the person has a continuous flexible period for the child and is likely to be an Australian-based employee of the employer during that period; and

(f) there are no other flexible PPL days prior to the person's continuous flexible period in respect of which:

(i) parental leave pay is payable to the person for the child; or

(ii) the person is initially eligible for parental leave pay for the child; and

(g) the employer has an ABN.

10 Paragraph 101(3)(a)

After "subsection (1)", insert "or (1A)".

11 Paragraph 101(3)(b)

After "paragraph (1)(a)", insert "or (1A)(a)".

12 Subsection 101(4)

Omit "subsection (1)", substitute "subsections (1) and (1A)".

13 At the end of section 101

Insert:

Calculating number of employees

(7) For the purpose of calculating the number of employees employed by an employer at a particular time for the purposes of this section:

(a) subject to paragraphs (b) and (c), all employees employed by the employer at that time are to be counted; and

(b) seasonal workers and other irregular casual employees are not to be counted.

14 Section 103

Repeal the section, substitute:

103 Employer response to notice of employer determination

(1) If an employer is given a notice under section 102 that an employer determination has been made under subsection 101(1), the employer must, within 14 days after the date of the notice, do one of the following:

(a) give the Secretary a written notice (the acceptance notice) that complies with section 104;

(b) apply for a review of the employer determination under Part 5-1 or 5-2.

Note: This subsection is a civil penalty provision (see section 146).

(2) If an employer is given a notice under section 102 that an employer determination has been made under subsection 101(1A), the employer may, within the period referred to in subsection (3):

(a) give the Secretary a written notice (the acceptance notice) that complies with section 104; or

(b) give the Secretary notice (the non-acceptance notice), orally or in writing, declaring that the employer does not accept the employer's obligations to pay instalments to the person.

(3) For the purposes of subsection (2), the period is 14 days, or such longer period allowed by the Secretary, after the date of the notice given under section 102.

15 Paragraph 106(c)

After "subsection 101(1)", insert "or (1A)".

16 Subsection 108(1) (after table item 1)

Insert:

17 Subsection 108(1) (table item 2, column 1)

Omit "section 103", substitute "subsection 103(1)".

18 Subsection 108(1) (after table item 2)

Insert:

19 Section 146 (cell at table item 10, column 1)

Repeal the cell, substitute:

Subsection 103(1)

20 Paragraphs 157(1)(b) and 159(1)(b)

Omit "section 103", substitute "subsection 103(1)".

21 Subsections 203(2) and 207(1)

Omit "section 101", substitute "subsection 101(1)".

22 Subsection 207(5)

Omit "section 103", substitute "subsection 103(1)".

23 Subsection 207(5) (note)

Omit "Section 103", substitute "Subsection 103(1)".

24 Application of amendments

The amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to an employer determination that is made on or after the commencement of this Schedule in relation to a claim for parental leave pay that is made before, on or after that commencement.

I thank Senator Pocock for raising this really important issue in relation to the administrative burden on small businesses. This pay clerk function of the PPL scheme is something we have long supported so as to remove the unnecessary red tape that's associated with the administration of this really important initiative that has got the bipartisan, or the multipartisan, support of this place. We certainly believe that small businesses and stakeholders and industry groups generally don't support the employer role in the administration of PPL payments because it adds a burden to what is already a very onerous life as a small business operator in this country.

I also commend Senator Pocock for allowing the 12-month period to enable a lead-in, which should provide time for Services Australia to be able to arrange the necessary back-of-house processes necessary to implement this change. The coalition want to put on the record that we will always support anything that reduces compliance burden placed on the engine room of our economy, which is small businesses and, accordingly, we will be supporting this amendment and thank Senator Pocock for moving it.