AREEA’s director of government relations, Daniel Mammone, provides this pre-election policy update for AREEA members.

WHILE a date has not been formally announced for the next federal election, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has signalled it will likely be held between August and October this year.

Regardless of the timing of the election, the Senate is unlikely to change significantly, with a re-elected Coalition Government still needing the support of independents to pass legislation opposed by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the Australian Greens.

ALP announces IR policies

The Opposition announced two workplace relations policies in 2015. This includes commitments to strengthen the existing governance and accountability framework for registered trade unions and employer organisations, in addition to granting up to five days paid ‘domestic and family violence leave’ under the National Employment Standards (casuals would be granted five unpaid days).

In a third announcement this week, the Opposition promised that a Shorten Labor Government ‘will put in place a suite of reforms to protect rights at work by cracking down on unscrupulous employers who are willing to exploit workers’.

These reforms would include:

• Increasing penalties for underpayment of employment conditions under the Fair Work Act 2009 of three times the amount of the underpayment or $216,000 (1,200 penalty units) for an individual and $1,080,000 (6,000 penalty units) for a body corporate.

• Seeking feedback on whether a new criminal offence is warranted where an employer ‘intentionally or recklessly seriously rips off workers’ and ‘intentionally or recklessly and seriously engages in sham contracting’ in the order of $43,200 (240 penalty units) or 2 years imprisonment for an individual or $216,000 (1,200 penalty units) for a body corporate. Other possible reforms could see courts being empowered to disqualify company directors.

• Creating a definition of an independent contractor, changes to unfair dismissal and adverse action protections in the Fair Work Act so that ‘workers cannot lose their jobs just for questioning whether they, or someone else, is an independent contractor or an employee’, and seeking feedback to introduce higher civil penalties for sham contracting.

• Introducing a new criminal offence for ‘those who deliberately exploit temporary overseas workers, and fail to meet their obligations to the worker under the Fair Work Act, even if they are employing the worker in accordance with the terms of their visa’. In addition, employers will require employers to provide temporary overseas workers a ‘Temporary Overseas Worker Support Pack’ upon their commencement of employment in Australia, backed by civil penalties for non-compliance.

• Making company directors personally liable for debts in relation to outstanding compensation owing to workers or civil penalties owing in respect of breaches of the Fair Work Act.

It is expected the Opposition will make further announcements in the lead up to the federal election. However, given the ALP National Platform (adopted at the 47th National Conference in July 2015) remains largely unchanged, it is unlikely the party will support even modest changes that address problematic aspects of the Fair Work system or which are beneficial for employers.

Greens opposed to ‘enterprise contracts’

The Australian Greens, which are financially supported by some trade unions, have blocked every piece of workplace relations legislation introduced by the government and recently announced their opposition to the potential introduction of ‘enterprise contracts’ as recommended by the Productivity Commission following its review of Australia’s workplace relations framework.

The government is now considering the Productivity Commission’s final report, which may form a substantial part of its workplace relations pre-election policy.

Government cracks down on union corruption

As detailed in  the AREEA News Update, the government today re-introduced legislation to re-establish a strengthened Australian Building and Construction Commission (read story here).

The government is also expected to introduce a bill to create a Registered Organisations Commission following the Royal Commission final report on Trade Union Governance and Corruption which recommended tougher criminal laws to combat illegality among union officials and registered organisations.

Both pieces of legislation have previously been voted down in the Senate and may become key election issues if the government again fails to gain the numbers to see them passed.

Leading up to the federal election, AREEA will continue to engage with members in our advocacy efforts to shape the policy priorities of the next Australian Government.

For more information, please contact AREEA’s policy team on 1800 627 771.