Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the House. In May, the Australian people voted for secure jobs and better pay. Now the Australian parliament can vote for secure jobs and better pay through this Fair Work Legislation (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022. After a decade of insecure work, undermining confidence and undercutting living standards, Australians voted to make job security an objective of the Fair Work Act. After a decade in which in this nation fell to 70th in the world for women's economic participation and the gender pay gap actually grew, Australians voted to boost gender pay equity, including the creation of expert panels for the community and care sector, and writing gender pay equity into the Fair Work Act. And after a decade of wage suppression, a decade of low wages being deployed as a deliberate design feature, the Australian people voted for our plans to get wages moving again. The Australian people voted for these reforms. Now the Australian parliament can do the same.

This bill reflects the mandate that Labor won on 21 May. It also demonstrates the priority we have put on consultation and cooperation since then—in particular, the Jobs and Skills Summit, when we brought together industry groups, small business, union representatives and civil society. Those leaders, representing a cross-section of the economy, agreed on the importance of investing in cheaper child care, which we delivered in our budget. They agreed on the need to expand paid parental leave, which we delivered in our budget. They agreed on the importance of building more affordable housing, which we delivered in our budget.

Big business, small business, unions and economists all agree that the current enterprise bargaining system is simply not working. It's not working for business and it's not working for workers and, therefore, it's not working for our economy. Across the economy, employers and employees are voting with their feet. Enterprise agreement take-up is at a 30-year low. It's a one-size-fits-all system that is no longer fit for purpose. It's not attune to the way we work in Australia in 2022, it's not relevant or useful for small businesses and their staff, it's not delivering the productivity gains employers need and it's not delivering the wage rises that workers deserve.

The current system is failing women worst of all, because it is those workforces with the most women that currently have the least bargaining power and the lowest pay. Disability care workers, cleaners, early educators, healthcare workers, the carers who keep the promise of the National Disability Insurance Scheme, the people who educate our youngest Australians, nurses who stand on the frontline of our health system—heroes of the pandemic but, more than that, heroes every single day. These Australians deserve more than our thanks. They deserve better support, better conditions and better pay.

I will always be proud that one of the first things our government did on coming to office was secure a substantial increase in the minimum wage. I am delighted that, last Friday, the Fair Work Commission granted a 15 per cent pay rise for aged-care workers. Do we on this side of the House welcome this progress? I say, 'Absolutely!' But on this side of the House we understand. As the Fair Work Commission acknowledged on Friday, 'Work in feminised industries, including care work, has been historically undervalued,' and the fastest and most effective way to address this failure is to make it easier for the workers in these industries to advocate together for better outcomes. Our reforms will make it easier for small businesses to engage with the bargaining framework, to get the support and resources they need to reach a fair deal for their staff, without being buried in paperwork or starting from scratch each time. I want to thank COSBOA for their constructive contribution to this dialogue and reform.

This bill also makes commonsense changes to improve the better off overall test, removing red tape relating to the approval of enterprise agreements whilst still protecting workers. So instead of weighing every hypothetical scenario under which a new agreement might adversely affect a hypothetical employee, the commission will now be able to base its decision on realistic scenarios, giving particular weight to the views of the bargaining representatives as to whether the agreement passes the BOOT. This is about encouraging give and take, supporting businesses and unions, negotiating in good faith for win-win outcomes.

This bill enshrines gender pay equity as an objective of the Fair Work Act, and it creates expert panels for the community and care sector—two policies I put at the centre of my campaign launch in Perth, because economic equality for women is at the centre of our government's vision for a better future. This bill abolishes pay secrecy clauses, which far too often act as a barrier to employees, particularly women, being paid the salary that they deserve. Importantly, this bill also reinforces the right of every Australian to a safe and respectful workplace. In line with recommendation 28 of the Respect@Work report, we're creating a positive duty to prevent sexual harassment, as well as providing affordable and accessible processes for employees to obtain orders from the Fair Work Commission to help protect them from harassment.

Along with these measures, we're banning employers from advertising jobs for rates of pay below the legal award minimum. Imagine the fact that that's okay at the moment—just extraordinary. We're consigning the last of the Work Choices agreements and all the unfairness they contain to the dustbin of history, where they belong. We're abolishing the ABCC and the Registered Organisations Commission, as we committed to do—two ideological failures that did nothing to boost productivity or improve workplace safety.

I freely acknowledge that not everyone is 100 per cent happy with 100 per cent of this legislation. I understand that there are both business representatives and union representatives who feel that this legislation isn't exactly what they would want. To me, that says we've got the balance right. I've said all along that I'm focused on bringing people together to find solutions. That doesn't mean I expect everyone to agree on every single aspect of every single proposal. If you wait for that, nothing will change. But Australians voted for change. What we are seeking is consensus on a common goal, an economy with strong growth, high productivity and fair wages. The reforms at the heart of this legislation are about building a framework for employers and employees to negotiate in good faith in pursuit of this goal, to agree on those win-win outcomes that deliver better conditions for workers and better results for business. We're giving small business the chance to be a part of those conversations, too. It will be a level playing field for everyone and a strong independent umpire in the Fair Work Commission.

This bill represents an opportunity for Australia to move beyond a system that's not serving the best interests of anyone and embrace one that serves the common interests of all. The bill will help Australia to climb the ladder for women's economic equality. This bill represents an opportunity for this parliament to match its words with actions. It's easy to say that you support higher wages as a theoretical proposition. The test is, what are you prepared to do? This legislation shows what we're prepared to do as a government. We believe that after a decade of wage stagnation working Australians deserve better than more of the same. They deserve action. They deserve meaningful progress. They deserve secure jobs and better pay. The government's position is clear, and so is our mandate, and I urge the parliament to back these reforms, to boost job security, to improve workplace safety and to get wages moving again. I commend the bill to the House.

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