AREEA would like to thank members who participated in last week’s survey into the provisions under the Fair Work Act 2009 relating to the greenfields agreement making. It has been a long standing policy position of AREEA that greenfield provisions introduced in 2009 needed revision to generate investor confidence and ensure certainty in critical phases of project development.

The Greenfields Agreements Review is a statutory requirement of the Fair Work Amendment Act 2015 (Amendment Act).

Matthew O’Callaghan, a former Senior Deputy President of the Fair Work Commission was engaged to undertake a review of the greenfields agreement provisions of the Fair Work Act 2009 which were the subject of legislative amendments in 2015, Mr O’Callaghan wrote to AREEA recently, offering the opportunity to provide written feedback

Submissions in response to the Greenfields Agreements Review Background Paper, have been sought from a range of stakeholders.

The requirement for an employer to negotiate a greenfield agreement with a union has seen unsustainable terms and conditions agreed to, in order to avoid delays and costly industrial action after a project commences. The changes, while not addressing all concerns raised by AREEA members, are an improvement from the legislative situation pre-November 2015, and therefore AREEA recommends that they should, as a minimum, be retained.

The information provided by AREEA members has informed our submission which supports the retention of the changes and re-agitates some of the positions previously advocated by AREEA as part of its Productivity Commission submission including:

• Length of greenfields agreements – allowing a greenfields agreement to specify a nominal expiry date of up to five years, or that matches the life of a project phase.
• The introduction of a “project proponent greenfields agreement” that could, by opting in, cover an entire resource project if all contractors decided to be covered by the agreement.
• Wider options at the end of the negotiating period – AREEA’s preference is for there to be an option for a two-year employer greenfields agreement with no required time period to have elapsed, or failing that, in line with the Productivity Commission’s recommendation, submitting the employer’s proposed greenfields arrangement for approval with a 12-month nominal expiry date.

While these changes are somewhat beyond the direct scope of this review, AREEA suggests that there is value in raising them as an opportunity to improve the current system and also to provide the reviewer with some insights as to why greenfields agreements are being made less frequently.

AREEA will provide regular updates on the review.

For more information or to talk to one of our Policy Team about your business needs, call 1800 627 771 or email [email protected]