Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) condemns the shocking findings uncovered by the Victorian Inquiry into the Labour Hire Industry and Insecure Work, including revelations of widespread underpayment, workplace health and safety breaches, maltreatment of workers, and tax avoidance in Victoria;

(2) welcomes the 35 recommendations made by the inquiry in its final report (August 2016);

(3) commends the Victorian Government for:

(a) establishing the inquiry; and

(b) committing to a labour hire licensing scheme in response to the inquiry's final report; and

(4) calls on the Australian Government to:

(a) investigate the operation of the labour hire industry Australia-wide; and

(b) commit to developing a national response to widespread exploitation in the industry based on findings.

I am pleased to be able to speak to this motion and, in doing so, to highlight a profound challenge facing Australia and in particular facing decision-makers in this place, our parliament, the seat of our national government. That is insecure work and its consequences, with particular reference to the labour hire industry, a growing sector in terms of employment in Australia and unfortunately also a dramatically growing sector in terms of exploitation and a range of unlawful activities. This challenge is recognised on this side of the parliament, in the union movement and by a number of state governments, in particular the Andrews government in my state of Victoria.

This motion was placed on the Notice Paper back in November and, since then, there has been some significant movement in Victoria and in other places in relation to these challenges of responding to insecure work and to these practices in the labour hire industry. The Andrews government in Victoria, since this motion was laid before the House, has moved to adopt the vast majority of the recommendations of the parliamentary inquiry into labour hire and insecure work.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear, hear!

Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'Hear, hear,' the member for Lalor says, and she is quite right to do so. They are taking clear action, as has the Palaszczuk government in Queensland. We have seen renewed advocacy in the union movement on these issues, and I highlight in particular the advocacy of unions like the National Union of Workers through their campaign 'Jobs you can count on'. But what has been missing in this of course is a national response, and that is extraordinarily disappointing and a betrayal of hundreds of thousands of Australian workers and their families.

This is not an issue, although it is gathering force. Five years ago, Brian Howe, a former Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, undertook a report for the Australian Council of Trade Unions. This report was entitled Lives on hold. This title captured the challenge of relying on labour hire for work. For too many Australians it captured the real meaning of insecure work and all of its consequences. There are consequences economically but also across the whole of people's lives.

Since then things have not got better; they have got much worse. We on this side of House recognise that inequality in Australia is at a post-Depression high, and changes in the world of work are exacerbating this trend to inequality. The share of the Australian economy going to wages is at a record low, and insecure forms of work—especially engagement through labour hire agencies—are becoming more prevalent. In too many cases, they are the new normal.

The Victorian government's inquiry, which this motion relates to, has uncovered some disturbing but important evidence about what is happening in labour hire in Victoria and has formulated the basis of a sound response. In the very short time available to me, I want to make a couple of points about the inquiry, firstly about its process. The inquiry opened up a critical conversation in Victoria, not just in Melbourne but around regional Victoria as well, enabling stories to be told. We have heard important stories of exploitative practices—for example targeting visa holders—and unlawful practices, particularly in areas of occupational health and safety. The inquiry has enabled the Victorian parliament to consider the scope of the impact of insecure work, and particularly the labour hire industry, on the lives of Victorians.

The key findings of the inquiry are important. I am pleased that they have been, in very large part, accepted by the Victorian government and, in very similar terms, adopted by the Palaszczuk government in Queensland—setting up a licensing scheme and developing a code of conduct to regulate labour hire operators and to make it unlawful for employers in regulated industries to use unlicensed firms in labour hire. The inquiry advocates a national licensing scheme for labour hire operators, increasing occupational health and safety requirements, improving regulation of accommodation standards, and amending the Equal Opportunity Act in Victoria to ensure it applies to labour hire employees to prevent discrimination, regulate operators and remove unscrupulous conduct.

What is missing in this national crisis is a national response. Many of the issues here obviously relate to the legislative competence of this parliament, not state and territory parliaments. This motion commends the work of the Andrews government—and I also acknowledge the Palaszczuk government. We should also acknowledge the work of the union movement in drawing attention to these practices, as well as the work of the member for Gorton and of the Leader of the Opposition in this place. What is missing is the Turnbull government and a national response to a national crisis.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder to the motion?

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion.

Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government understands that labour hire services form an important part of our economy and provide an opportunity for flexible work to the benefit of employees and employers. They are particularly important for seasonal work. So any changes to the law governing labour hire arrangements would be intended to capture those providers who are doing the wrong thing and not to discourage the use of labour hire as a legitimate form of employment. The government is aware of breaches of existing laws by certain labour hire operators. These are unacceptable and require action by the appropriate authorities. That is one reason why the Turnbull government is taking strong action. It has provided an additional $20 million to the Fair Work Ombudsman and has established Taskforce Cadena to target worker exploitation wherever that occurs.

The government also last year established a migrant workers task force chaired by the former ACCC chair, Professor Allan Fels, which has been asked to specifically examine whether changes to the law are needed to prevent the exploitation of migrant workers engaged through labour hire. In April the task force heard from Professor Forsyth, who was the chair of the Victorian inquiry. The task force also heard from the recruitment and consulting services association, which is currently developing an industry led certification process for labour hire operators. At its meeting, the task force welcomed the industry led reforms and also committed to giving careful consideration to further options for addressing the issue of worker exploitation in the context of labour hire.

Labour hire operators—and this is an important point to reiterate—are subject to the same laws as any employer. The government is also protecting workers by strengthening their protections in workplace laws. One of the very profound ways in which we are taking action—in contrast to those opposite who took no action when in government—is our Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill, which is currently before the parliament. The bill increases penalties for underpayment, it tackles some of the incredibly shocking exploitation we have seen by the likes of 7-Eleven, it gives the Fair Work Ombudsman investigative powers similar to corporate regulators and it holds head offices like 7-Eleven's responsible for underpayments if their network of franchisees is complicit or turns a blind eye.

We have an example in Geelong, where a young man was working for 7-Eleven. He was being paid properly on the books and yet he was being forced to make cashbacks. I am absolutely delighted that the Minister for Employment, Senator Michaelia Cash, along with the Fair Work Ombudsman acted so quickly, and that particular worker has now had the underpaid amount repaid to him. That is an example of how our government is acting, in contrast to those opposite when the Labor Party was in government, where no action was taken in this regard. We have seen the absolute hypocrisy from Labor when it comes to penalty rates. Let's not forget that it was the Leader of the Opposition who trashed the independence of the Fair Work Commission, which he helped establish and whose decisions he pledged to support, while ignoring deals between unions and big businesses, which have worked together to trade away penalty rates. That is why we are taking action to outlaw corrupting benefits. We have seen some really sleazy deals between some unions and Labor and large employers, where workers have been stripped of their penalty rates altogether by employers like Woolworths, Coles, KFC and McDonald's. We have also seen, under the Labor Party, a system where labour hire agreements supported the importation of workers under 457 visas working in places like McDonald's, when young Australian workers were denied the opportunity to do that work. We have seen absolute hypocrisy from Labor on this issue.

We are very proud to be standing up for workers who have been exploited in the workplace, through the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Vulnerable Workers) Bill and the Fair Work Amendment (Corrupting Benefits) Bill. The exploitation of these workers is an example of what happens when Labor is in power. It is an example of the sleazy deals being done and their effect on all those young workers across Australia who have lost their penalty rates. I condemn this motion and I say, 'Hear, hear!' to the Turnbull government, which is taking strong action protecting workers. (Time expired)

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the member for Scullin's motion and, with him, to commend the Victorian and Queensland governments, who are taking action in this very critical space. We have seen, in the research done in the Victorian government's inquiry into the labour hire industry, how endemic this problem is in Victoria and across our nation, and it is reflected by the number of pages in that report and the number of papers that have been done. I join the member for Scullin in calling on the Turnbull government to take some action by sitting down with us to look at this, as we have done in our electorates.

On becoming the member for Lalor, one of the first things that I did was sit down with Tim Kennedy of the National Union of Workers to talk about the casualisation and insecurity of work, because, of course, in the electorate of Lalor, where transport and logistics is such a big employer, this is a critical issue. We have heard the member for Scullin speak about migrant workers, and I am very proud that the western community legal centre WEstjustice, who have made submissions to the Labor Party and to the Victorian inquiry, are doing fantastic work around the exploitation of migrant workers in this labour hire area. But I have to say that to reduce this conversation to the impacts on migrant workers does a huge disservice to workers in my electorate who are not in a visa class, were born in this country and are finding themselves being exploited. In Victoria, we estimate there are hundreds of thousands of workers involved in labour hire arrangements, but how would we know? It is not a regulated industry, so how would we know how many workers are being exploited under these arrangements and how would we know how to deal with it? We would start with an inquiry.

I note that the members with me today, I believe, all three of us—the member for Burt may have spoken last week on the government's legislation about protecting vulnerable workers—stood shocked that we were there. Here was a bill. It seemed to have a name that matched the intent of the parliamentarians in this place. But, of course, it did not go far enough. It did not address this specific issue. It did not address labour hire arrangements. It did not address a national register for labour hire companies. It did not address phoenixing and sham contracts.

I know that there are many unions across the country that have concerns in this space, as well as the NUW who have run a fantastic campaign—Jobs you can count on—and who have spent many hours talking to us and talking to residents in our communities on the shop floor, talking to people who are working in my electorate in transport and logistics, working with people who are casually employed to ensure that they understand their rights under the law and that those who are being dealt with outside of the law are registering those complaints. I also note that the TWU have specific concerns in this area and I know that our colleagues in the Senate are doing a lot of work to highlight those as well.

I reference Professor Anthony Forsyth's work in chairing the inquiry in Victoria. I commend the Andrews Labor government on taking up those 35 recommendations, most of which they will support. Most importantly, both there and in Queensland, under the Palaszczuk government, I commend those state governments for doing, let's face it, what is the federal government's work. We all know that industrial relations in this country, that the framework and laws that are designed to regulate industrial relations in this country, happen in this place.

Last week there was an opportunity, in the last sitting week, for this government to take some action. They gravely failed to take that action, and workers will continue to be in insecure work. They will continue to be casualised to the point where their families have no security, will continue to have young people—particularly young people in my electorate—waiting for that text to tell them whether they have work tomorrow or not, will continue not to be paid superannuation although it appears on their pay slip, will continue to have young workers who go to what they assume is their employer to say, 'I've had a bit of an accident at work; I've got an injury,' to be told they have to report that to a labour hire company for whom their only contact is a text message daily.

This government needs to take action. The member for Corangamite is passionate, but she cares not enough about the workers in my electorate and hers.

Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.

Sitting suspended from 13:22 to 16:01