Dave Sharma (Wentworth, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to take this opportunity to ask the Attorney-General how the government is taking action to support the hardworking men and women of Australia, particularly when it comes to the sudden and severe impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Clearly, Australians have experienced a year like no other in 2020. The once-in-a-century pandemic that is COVID-19 has had a profound impact on our health system, on our community and on our economy. Whilst we are fortunate to be in Australia, there is no doubt that the hundreds of thousands of Australians who saw their hours at work dwindle down to zero—

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 16 : 20 to 16:30

As I was saying, there is no doubt that the hundreds of thousands of Australians who saw their hours at work dwindle down to zero and the many more who lost their jobs completely have been doing it tough, with women and young people in particular hit hard. As a government it's incumbent upon us to help regrow the jobs and hours of work that have been lost as a result of COVID-19. We must get Australians back on their feet and regrow our economy, and the government's 2020-21 budget is our plan to do exactly that. It's an economic recovery plan for Australia, a plan to create jobs, to rebuild the economy and to secure Australia's future.

I'm proud to say that employees are central to the government's plan with a multitude of new and continuing measures focusing on individuals and on households, because Australians deserve to know that the government has their backs. This includes when it comes to ensuring that Australians understand their rights and entitlements in the workplace, particularly where there have been changes made to their workplace as a result of the impacts of COVID-19—following things such as the temporary amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 by the government or variations to modern awards by the Fair Work Commission. This includes providing an efficient and effective dispute resolution forum in the Fair Work Commission to dispute unfair dismissals and issues with the landmark JobKeeper program.It includes critical employee support frameworks, like the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme for those workers who, regrettably, lose their entitlements due to their employer's liquidation. In these circumstances fast and effective processing of claims is vital.

We have also seen, in recent months, that some employers are continuing to fail to adhere to their basic obligations to pay their employees. Whilst there is no doubt that there are many underlying drivers in these circumstances, it's vital that key regulators, like the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Australian Building and Construction Commission, are on hand to ensure mistakes are rectified and, where appropriate, that compliance and enforcement action is taken.

Can the Attorney-General please outline how the government has continued to ensure that the workplace regulator, the Fair Work Ombudsman, can provide employees with assistance on understanding their rights and entitlements under various employment laws? Can the Attorney-General also advise how the government is ensuring the independent workplace tribunal, the Fair Work Commission, is being funded to provide a fast and efficient avenue for employees to dispute workplace issues, including those arising from the COVID-19 pandemic? Can the Attorney-General also confirm that the government is ensuring the availability of safety net supports, available to employees through the Fair Entitlements Guarantee scheme? Finally, can the Attorney outline how our key regulatory agencies in the industrial relations portfolio, the Fair Work Ombudsman and the Australian Building and Construction Commission in particular, are continuing to protect the hard earned wages of Australians?

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