Your resource industry employer group, AREEA, has submitted a compelling case for workplace relations reform to the Productivity Commission, based on the evidence and feedback of AREEA members as to how Australia’s workplace system could better support the productivity and competitiveness of your workplaces.

AREEA’s submission to the Productivity Commission’s ‘Review of the Workplace Relations Framework’, lodged last Friday, details the challenges faced by resource employers under the Fair Work Act 2009.

Entitled Getting Back on Track: Delivering the Workplace Relations Framework Australia Needs, this comprehensive submission builds a strong case for reform and specifies practical, valuable reform outcomes that would make a real difference to how our members operate.

“This long overdue inquiry is an opportunity to get our workplace relations system back on track and deliver the policies and framework Australia needs,” says AREEA chief executive Steve Knott.

“It comes at a time of growing economic pressures on Australia and projections of substantial demographic, debt and other economic challenges that are impacting on all Australians.

“The Fair Work system is increasingly failing Australia. If we do not pursue reforms to better support growth in multifactor and labour productivity in the resource industry and broader economy, our living standards will decline.”

Backed by practical experiences and evidence from resource employers, AREEA’s submission identifies key priority areas for workplace reform that will deliver stronger, more productive, more competitive and harmonious workplaces:

• Balanced, sensible rules for taking legally protected industrial action.
• Balanced and effective rules for unions to enter workplaces.
• Accessible, reliable and competitive options to regulate workplace relations on new projects through greenfields agreements.
• Ensuring agreement content / strikes are restricted to employment claims.
• Providing useable individual agreement making options.
• Reducing artificial and inflated litigious risk through adverse action claims, while protecting employees from unlawful and discriminatory treatment.
• Restructuring Australia’s employment institutions, complete with a dedicated appeals jurisdiction, to better focus on employment growth, productivity and competitiveness.

To reinforce the experiences of members, AREEA commissioned leading global economic consultancy KPMG to examine competitive pressures on the Australian resource industry and the potential impacts of the resource industry’s key reform recommendations.

KPMG found that if key workplace reforms advocated by AREEA were implemented, they could support resource sector productivity growth of up to 5% and investment growth of 8%. Further economic modelling shows the proposed reforms could add $30.9 billion to Australia’s GDP and create 36,000 additional jobs.

Read more about the KPMG report in the related AREEA News Update story here.

“AREEA thanks all members involved in this submission and the KPMG report. More generally, we thank our entire membership base for providing ongoing extensive feedback about your experiences operating under the FW Act,” Mr Knott continues.

“This submission, with the KPMG report, is the culmination of the past five years of AREEA member consultation on the workplace system you need to operate productively and competitively.

“Over coming weeks and months, AREEA will engage with members on this significant body of work and keep you updated on the progress of the review.

“Importantly, we will also continue to drive the national and political conversation about the need for workplace relations reform and the benefits for the entire nation in keeping Australia’s resource industry an attractive and competitive place to invest and do business, employ people and contribute to the national well-being.”

Over the next several weeks, each week the AREEA News Update will explore one item from the organisation’s PC Submission. This week, we explore “The Economic Case for Reform” – see related story here.

Email [email protected] or call 1800 627 771 to discuss any of these matters with one of our resource industry workplace relations experts.

Did you see AREEA in the news?

Click here to read The Australian newspaper’s front page article about AREEA’s workplace reforms.

Click here to read coverage in The Australian Financial Review about the KPMG report commissioned by AREEA.