Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really proud to speak on this important legislation. The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 is delivering on our key election commitment to protect penalty rates, and this is legislation that Australians overwhelmingly supported at the last election. The intent of this bill is simple. If you are a worker who relies on the modern award safety net and you work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, then this Albanese Labor government believes that you deserve to have your wages protected. We believe that you deserve laws that ensure that pay will not go backwards. That's why it is so important that, as one of the very first orders of business, we're delivering for workers. This will mean a lot to workers in my electorate of Chisholm and for workers right across Australia.

I'm really proud that in our first term during the 47th Parliament, the Albanese government delivered landmark workplace relations reforms with a clear goal, which was to get wages moving again for Australian workers.

We addressed and closed loopholes that undermined principles of fairness and improved access to secure jobs and better pay. We reinvigorated enterprise bargaining and, significantly, put gender equality at the heart of workplace relations. We improved workplace conditions and protections right across the board. And in every single wage review since taking office we have backed, unapologetically—in fact, proudly—minimum wage increases.

A very important memory for me will always be the moment I stood with the then opposition leader, now Prime Minister, when he was asked during the 2022 election campaign whether he supported a $1 pay rise for Australia's lowest-paid workers, and he said—famously, now—'Absolutely.' At the time, and I think it's important that we remember this, he was criticised roundly by those opposite for making such a claim. Well, our government, our Prime Minister, has been backing in pay rises for Australia's lowest-paid workers ever since, with the support of the Australian community. And of course in our most recent submission to the Fair Work Commission we called for an economically sustainable real-wage increase for workers on the minimum wage. This side of the House is really pleased that from 1 July minimum wages have been increased by 3.5 per cent.

These are significant reforms, and we've fought hard to deliver them. Labor governments will always support workers to receive fair pay and decent conditions. We know that our changes to legislation are being felt by workers in our communities and are delivering improved outcomes, not just for workers but also for their employers. These are really important outcomes that are significant for people in my electorate of Chisholm. These are outcomes that have resulted in thousands of workers receiving up to $60,000 extra in their pay packets each year. One of the greatest joys in my job—and I've mentioned this before, in other speeches to this place—has been to visit some of our frontline service workers. We know that many of our frontline service workers in this country are reliant on minimum wages. I'm proud that I can always look them in the eye and tell them we're doing our very best in this place to ensure that they receive the wage increases they deserve.

It is disappointing—a great shame—that those opposite have not taken the opportunity to support some of our hardest-working, lowest-paid workers. Our government has always advocated to the Fair Work Commission for minimum and award wage rises—every single year since we were elected in 2002. That is quite a contrast to when those opposite sat on the treasury benches and put wage stagnation and low wages at the centre of their economic policy. I think that is a real shame for this country.

Labor governments want to see wages increase and to see workers being valued for all they do in our communities. Since we've come to government we've reinvigorated our bargaining system, which means employers and workers can reach agreements in workplaces that do result in higher wages through negotiation and receive better conditions and better productivity. We've ensured that gender equality and job security have become new objects in the Fair Work Act. We've banned pay secrecy clauses. We've criminalised intentional wage theft and we've stopped the underpayment of workers through the labour hire loophole. We've introduced world-leading minimum standards for road transport workers. We've ended the forced permanent casual loophole—which does seem like an oxymoron, but it was the way many workplaces functioned in this country for too long. And we've provided a proper pathway for conversion for casuals who do want that. We've also given workers a right to clock off through the right to disconnect.

It's important to understand, too, that more than half of employers who responded to a recent Australian HR Institute survey have indicated that Labor's right-to-disconnect laws have in fact improved employee engagement and productivity. Worker wellbeing is important to productivity in this country. The latest figures on enterprise bargaining show that nearly 2.7 million Australians are now covered by a current enterprise agreement, which is the highest coverage on record since the system began. Importantly, our laws are working to deliver real wage increases, improved conditions and more cooperative and productive workplaces.

We are continuing that work with this bill, which will protect penalty rates and overtime rates in modern awards. Penalty rates and overtime rates do matter. They are a longstanding feature and a vital part of the modern award safety net which supports some of Australia's lowest-paid workers. We know that, right now, the safety net can unfortunately be undermined. Under current rules, penalty rates and overtime rates can be rolled up into a single rate of pay that leaves employees worse off. I would hope that no-one in this place would like to see employees worse off in this country. We know that there are current cases on foot where employers in the retail, clerical and banking sectors have made applications to the Fair Work Commission to trade away penalty rates of lower-paid workers on awards. Sadly, we know that the coalition have always been too willing to back these kinds of positions. We on this side of the House take a very different approach, really wanting to back in fairness for Australian workers. We know that people put their faith in a Labor government to be custodians of the Australian workplace relations system and to look out for workers' best interests, especially where clear and obvious gaps exist.

This bill here before the House is about making sure that we are taking action to ensure that the best interests of workers is at the heart of our workplace relations system. This legislation will mean that proposals, as I mentioned earlier, to undermine worker pay cannot be included in modern awards. It's really ensuring that the safety net remains. We are going to protect the penalty rates and overtime rates of low-paid workers and enshrine protections for penalty rates and overtime rates in modern awards. In practical terms, this will mean workers won't have to worry about that safety net. We have done this because Labor governments are committed to strengthening the modern award system without adding unnecessary complexity. The bill will not stop parties engaging in ways to make awards easier or from ensuring that award terms can be adaptable to modern working needs.

We want this legislation passed as a top priority, which is why we're here in week 2 of the sitting weeks of parliament and this has been introduced. This is really important. We need to do all we can to protect workers from loopholes that could see their take-home pay go backwards. Modern awards are so important in providing entitlements such as pay, hours of work, rosters, breaks, penalty rates and overtime. We really want to protect those gains and ensure that the safety net of minimum wages and entitlements for Australian lowest-paid workers is maintained. We know that people who are covered by these awards are more likely to be women, work part time, be under 35 and also often be employed on a casual basis. So these are marginalised workers as well that we are seeking to ensure are protected.

This is a very important piece of legislation. We, of course, respect the role of the Fair Work Commission as an independent industrial tribunal. They are the umpire. That role is unchanged under this legislation. What we want to see is enterprise agreements deliver better deals for working people, better wages and conditions and more cooperative and productive workplaces. Our government has really been focused on reinvigorating the enterprise bargaining system such that we now have a record-high number of employees covered by federal enterprise agreements, and we are already seeing that these agreements are delivering real wage increases for Australian workers.

As of 31 March this year, the Fair Work Commission approved over 9,800 agreements covering nearly 2.5 million employees. Also as of 31 March this year, almost 2.7 million employees were covered by a current enterprise agreement, which is the highest coverage since bargaining began in 1991.

Ultimately this bill is about fairness. It is about respecting the millions of Australians, including thousands in my electorate of Chisholm, who work public holidays, weekends, late nights and early mornings to keep Australia going. In this spirit, I commend the bill to the House.

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