Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

We oppose both of these amendments. The effect of the first one is to increase the transition period for training from 12 months, which is in the bill, to three years. The second one is effectively deeming training courses previously approved by the Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission as accredited courses without the need necessarily to update. Let me deal with them in sequence and then I have a note on the volunteers, so I will briefly refer to that.

The government recognises a transition period is required for health and safety representatives to complete updated training on the new work health and safety laws. The current bill allows 12 months after which time, if representatives have not completed updated training, they will no longer be able to exercise their powers under the Work Health and Safety Act to issue provisional improvement notices and to direct that work cease. A period of 12 months is consistent with nationally agreed principles for transition to the new laws and strikes a balance between smooth transition and recognition that new laws mean some changes and updated training is required. I am unclear as to why the opposition is seeking to extend the period to three years while at the same time seeking to expand the pool of training courses recognised under the new regime beyond even those accredited under current arrangements.

The second amendment proposed by the opposition would allow training providers whose accreditation may have lapsed some years ago to provide training under the new laws without having to satisfy the current guidelines issued by the commission or any future guidelines developed and agreed by OH&S regulators. The Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission is currently responsible for the accreditation of training courses for health and safety reps under the current Commonwealth Occupational Health and Safety Act. To assist training providers they have established clear guidelines for the accreditation of training courses.

The intention is for training courses that are currently accredited under the Occ Health and Safety Act to be recognised on a transitional basis following commencement of the new work health and safety laws to ensure the continued availability of courses. The accreditation process is an important safeguard to ensure health and safety representatives receive quality training at this vital time as we transition to the new laws. The government does not support an amendment that seeks to override decisions made by the independent Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission under the current OH&S Act. The proposed amendment would grant accreditation to training providers that do not hold current accreditation under the current guidelines issued by the SRCC in 2010 but which held accreditation under previous guidelines in regard to HSR training and undermine the integrity of the accreditation process.

If I can have the indulgence to deal with the volunteer question, the bill strikes a balance between protecting volunteers in the workplace whilst also not discouraging voluntary participation. Under the model work laws workers who are volunteers are afforded the same protection as any other workers. This is an important protection and ensures that volunteers are not treated differently to employees and contractors who are engaged in the same workplace. While the application of the bill to volunteer associations is not directly relevant to this debate because the Commonwealth bill before us today will only apply to Commonwealth public authorities and for a transitional period non-Commonwealth licensees, the Commonwealth Work Health and Safety Bill does form part of a national scheme of harmonised work health and safety laws that recognise that there are some voluntary organisations that do not have health and safety duties. There are groups of volunteers working together for community purposes who do not employ any person to carry out work for the volunteer organisation who would not be covered by the laws. The engagement of contractors for one-off jobs, for example to audit the accounts or drive a bus for a day trip, will not affect a volunteer association's status. However, if a volunteer association has employees then it will owe health and safety duties to all workers including any volunteers who engage in the work of the organisation. (Extension of time granted) An officer who is a volunteer will have the duty to exercise due diligence but cannot be prosecuted as an individual for failing to do so. This is designed to not discourage voluntary participation as officers. We are opposed to the two amendments for the reasons I have outlined.

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