Australian Resources and Energy Group AREEA is seeking input from its membership as it prepares a comprehensive submission to the Morrison Government’s long-awaited Industrial Relations Bill, introduced into Federal Parliament late last year.

The Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia’s Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2020 has been referred to the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 12 March 2020. Following an expedited parliamentary process, the Bill is expected to go before both houses for vote in March in order to take effect at around the time the JobKeeper wage subsidy scheme ends (28 March 2021).

The Bill seeks to legislate the following:

• Various improvements to enterprise agreement making processes and procedures, including changes to approval tests applied by the Fair Work Commission (e.g. the ‘Better Off Overall Test’) and a target for approval of enterprise agreements within 21 days of lodgment.
• Extending the maximum duration for greenfields agreements used in the construction of major resources, energy and infrastructure projects, from four years to a new maximum of eight years. Projects of $500 million or more in capital value will be automatically eligible.
• Inserting a new definition of casual employment in the Fair Work Act, while protecting employers from ‘double dipping’ back-pay claims through an offsetting mechanism.
• A new penalties regime for wage underpayments, including more severe civil penalties and criminal charges for the most serious cases.
• Simplification of industrial awards applicable to small business sectors, while extending JobKeeper-related flexibilities for highly distressed industries.

How you can contribute

AREEA’s submission will build on the advocacy and policy advice throughout the Australian Government’s IR working groups process that informed the legislation, of which AREEA was heavily involved.

AREEA is seeking further input, examples, and anecdotes from members about how the proposed laws will address the inefficiencies of the current industrial relations system to achieve more productive workplaces and deliver improved employment outcomes.

In particular, AREEA is seeking input from members with arguments, evidence or de-identified case studies about the use of casual employment, a legitimate and necessary part of the industry’s overall workforce strategies.

Further experiences / case studies on enterprise agreement approval delays and overall experiences with the bargaining framework will also be useful.

Members with feedback or evidence of how the Bill’s passage will improve employment arrangements, deliver job opportunities and make businesses more productive are encouraged to contact [email protected].

The closing date for submissions is 5 February 2021.

Along with preparing a submission on behalf of the resources and energy industry, AREEA will execute a substantial advocacy plan to give the Bill the best chance of passing through the senate and into law.

This will involve ongoing engagement with the Senate Crossbench and the Australian Parliament more broadly, to ensure all members fully understand the benefits these reforms will have on the national economy and community.

Fixing enterprise bargaining, ‘project life’ greenfields agreements, and restoring certainty to casual employment, are three key policy priorities outlined in AREEA’s Pathway to Productivity campaign launched in 2019. You can read the business case for these important IR amendments here.

For more information on the government’s Industrial Relations Bill, any other matters relevant to pending industrial relations changes, or AREEA’s advocacy campaign, contact our policy team via [email protected].