Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Xenophon for the question. What we are saying is that the demand has to be 'unreasonable in the circumstances'. That's the test. We are not saying it is unreasonable for somebody who is going to a job interview to actually have to jump in the car, put petrol in the tank and drive through half-a-dozen tolls, as you would in Sydney. That's not 'unreasonable in the circumstances'. But it would be 'unreasonable in the circumstances' for the employer to say, 'I'll give you a job, at minimum rate, but for you to get that job you'll have to pay me a fee of $500.' That's what would be 'unreasonable in the circumstances'. That is an issue that is clearly an unreasonable proposition. And that's why we say that, if the principle of 'unreasonable demands' applies to those who have a job, you must make sure that prospective employees also don't face unreasonable demands. We are saying the demands have to be 'unreasonable in the circumstances'. That would be the test. It would be tested by the Fair Work Commission; you could go there and say you had an unreasonable demand put upon you. We think it is appropriate to have these circumstances dealt with—that you cannot unreasonably demand money from a prospective employee. That's a problem people have faced.