THE South Australian Liberal Government has written to AREEA advising it will seek to repeal labour hire licensing laws introduced by the previous Labor Government, amid concerns over the effectiveness of the scheme.
Attorney-General, Vickie Chapman MP, said the Marshall Government began reviewing the laws after submissions were received from a number of stakeholders, which included briefings from AREEA, who believed there were issues with the scope of the scheme.
“The former government when passing this Bill clearly had not listened to what the industry was saying and the meritorious arguments to make significant amendment to legislation. They have decided to completely ignore those submissions and press ahead, providing enormous power to the unions which controlled them,” said Ms Chapman.
“If we were to proceed with this scheme as it stands, there would be a high likelihood we would be regulating industries and business arrangements that extend well beyond was is reasonably required and where issues lie.”
AREEA’s longstanding position has been that labour hire licensing is an unnecessary, cumbersome overreaction to a small number of employment contraventions in a limited scope of sectors.
“It’s reflective of the wider war on the resources and energy industry’s supply chain, in which longstanding legitimate forms of labour sourcing have been unfairly demonised and targeted,” said AREEA head of policy and public affairs, Tom Reid.
AREEA welcomes the announced move of the SA Government to repeal the laws.
Victorian authority launches website
Meanwhile, Victoria has wasted little time pushing forward with its labour hire licensing regime with the launch of the Labour Hire Licensing Authority website last week.
The website will be regularly updated to keep stakeholders informed of the licensing scheme’s commencement, regulations and planned education and information sessions.
The regulations governing how the state’s licensing scheme are expected shortly, following the public consultation period closing in early September.
For more information or a discussion about labour hire licensing, contact [email protected]
