Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I'll attempt to answer the question. If it's not the right answer for the right question, let me know. These what have been called sham casuals provisions prohibit employers from deliberately undermining the use of casual employment, and they're modelled on the sham contracting provisions under the act. Under section 359B, employers 'must not dismiss, or threaten to dismiss' an employee to re-engage them as a casual. Under section 359C, employers must not make false statements to a non-casual employee 'in order to persuade or influence' them 'to enter into a contract for casual employment'.

We recognise that the majority of employers do the right thing when engaging an employee. The inclusion of the sham casual provisions is supported by the independent review of the previous government's laws, which found consideration should be given to provisions to exclude sham casual employment arrangements from meeting the statutory definition. Hopefully that answers your question.