Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gives me a great deal of pleasure to rise and speak on this important legislation, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023. The bill would amend the Fair Work Act 2009 and related legislation to close loopholes to protect Australian workers and strengthen the work health and safety framework. It is also important to know that the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

This bill delivers on key commitments made in the lead-up to the last federal election to deliver fairer, safer workplaces while also providing employers with clarity when it comes to the treatment of workers and contractors. This bill represents a significant step towards creating a fair and equitable working environment for all Australians. It addresses several critical issues in our labour laws and closes the loopholes that have long undermined the rights and wellbeing of too many workers.

Firstly, let us acknowledge that the Australian workforce is the backbone of our nation. It is imperative that our labour laws reflect the values of fairness, safety and honesty. However, unfortunately, various loopholes have emerged over time, creating opportunities for exploitation and injustice. The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 aims to rectify these issues and strengthen the rights and protections for workers, improving job security by replacing the existing definition of 'casual employee' with a fair and objective definition and by introducing a new employee pathway of choice for eligible employees to change to permanent employment if they wish to do so, which is a step in the right direction.

One of the primary concerns addressed by this bill is the exploitation of workers employed in the gig economy and the misclassification of workers as independent contractors rather than employees. This misclassification has allowed many employers to avoid providing benefits such as minimum wage, superannuation and paid leave. This bill clarifies and tightens the definition of an employee, ensuring that those entitled to these benefits receive them regardless of their job arrangement. Closing this particular loophole will provide many families in my electorate of Pearce with the employment certainty that they deserve and that they need.

As of August 2022, almost 19 per cent of workers within Pearce were working in insecure, casual work with no sick leave and no minimum wage. Those workers are some of the most vulnerable in our economy, often working in the care sector or the gig economy, feeding their families from the money they earn from platforms like Mable and Uber Eats. To reiterate: part 1 of schedule 1 of the bill would amend existing section 15A of the Fair Work Act to implement an objective definition of 'casual employee' to determine when an employee can be classified as a casual employee. The new definition would be considered by the presence or absence of a firm advanced commitment to continuing and indefinite work to be assessed against several factors, and the practical reality and true nature of the employment relationship.

The bill would also amend the National Employment Standards at part 2-2 of the Fair Work Act to provide casual employees with two pathways to change their employment status: by exercising a choice via a new notification procedure or through the existing casual conversion procedure. The amendments would also establish a new framework for dealing with disputes about employment status.

The bill also responds to the findings of the review of the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Act 2021 statutory review by: strengthening the existing dispute resolution framework in the Fair Work Act, including by allowing the Fair Work Commission to determine, by mandatory arbitration, whether an employer had reasonable grounds to refuse to make an offer or decline a request for casual conversion; introducing new civil remedy provisions prohibiting employers from misrepresenting employment as casual employment; making misrepresentations to engage an employee as a casual employee and dismissing an employee to re-engage them as a casual employee in certain circumstances; and requiring employers to provide the casual employment information statement to casual employees at the start of their employment under 12 months.

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