Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

When I was at school, my local golden arches was a short walk away from my house. I was a frequent visit to that Macca's. Sometimes it was for a Happy Meal, but mostly it was because I worked there as a casual, like thousands of young Australians all across the country. Back then, my hourly wage had a four in front of it. It wasn't much, but that's what penalty rates were there for and that's why they were all the more important. They remain so for millions of people who rely on them every single day.

Labor has always been at the forefront of making sure that people are paid fairly and of returning penalty rates and other critical award conditions to millions of workers across the country. The Monday to Friday, nine-to-five working day is still the norm in our society. We value weekends as downtime and public holidays as special. The baker who starts at 3 am every day to bake your fresh bread, the barista who makes your coffee on a Sunday morning and the nurse working through the wee hours of the night—all of these people work to serve others. All of these people work to serve our community. Those who work when the rest of us are enjoying time off from work deserve to be recognised with fair pay and conditions.

It was a Labor government and a Labor election commitment to protect penalty rates for 2.6 million workers who are on modern awards. That is exactly what the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 will do. This is another example of the Albanese government fulfilling its commitment to delivery. The Prime Minister has made it clear from the very outset that this is not a government that just says things, this is not a government that talks; this is a government that makes commitments and follows through on them. We saw that last week. We've seen that this week. We've seen it in 20 per cent off HECS, we've seen it in the introduction of cheaper medicines and now, today, we see it in this bill to make sure that the commitments that we have made to working people across the breadth and depth of this country on penalty rates and overtime rates are delivered.

Modern awards stipulate employee entitlements, such as pay, hours of work, rosters, breaks, allowances, penalty rates and overtime. They are part of the critical safety net of minimum wages and entitlements for Australia's lowest-paid workers. If you're on an award and you work on the weekend, this bill is for you. If you work early in the morning or late at night, this bill is for you. If you work on public holidays, this bill is for you. Your wage must reflect that, and your wage must be protected. You deserve to know what your entitlements are, and you deserve to know that your entitlements are secure.

I think it's important, when we talk about penalty rates and when we talk about overtime rates, to acknowledge what penalty rates are. To do that, it's important to understand what they are not. Penalty rates are not a bonus. Penalty rates are not an extra. Penalty rates are not a prize. You'd be forgiven for thinking that penalty rates are any of those things, if you listen to those opposite talk about them.

Penalty rates are fundamentally, at their core, a wage. Penalty rates are an entitlement. And penalty rates are critical to ensuring that those who are the lowest paid in our society are given the entitlements they deserve to help them get through every single day.

One of the things that became very clear when speaking to thousands of Moreton residents over the last year was just how much workers rely on their penalty rates. The Albanese Labor government believes in people earning more and keeping more of what they earn, and our No. 1 focus remains continuing to deliver cost-of-living relief for the Australian people.

This bill amends the Fair Work Act 2009. It will establish a clear principle that, when the Fair Work Commission is making, varying or revoking modern awards as per its remit, it must ensure no reduction in penalty rates or overtime rates. It also outlines that modern awards do not include any terms that replace employee penalty rates or overtime entitlements where the result would be a reduction in the employee's take-home pay.

This bill is necessary for several reasons. Firstly, modern awards can role up penalty rates and overtime rates into one rate of pay which can leave workers worse off, and we are a Labor government and we do not leave workers worse off. Secondly, there is an urgency to this bill. The Fair Work Commission is currently assessing submissions from employers in the retail, clerical and banking sectors to remove the penalty rates of lower paid workers from awards. If these employer applications were successful, workers would stand to loose thousands of dollars each year, and that is something that working people cannot afford and that working people should not cop.

We need to protect these workers' penalty rates. After all, the hard workers in retail and hospitality often work outside those usual nine-to-five hours and work across the weekends, when the rest of us are spending time with our families. Finally, relative to all employees, award employees are more likely to be women under 35 who work part time or casually. The Albanese Labor government will safeguard their wages as well as their participation in our economy.

We know that those opposite will not fight for workers' rights. In fact, they have a longstanding opposition to penalty rates and overtime rates. We've seen it time and time again. We saw it in 2007 with the introduction of work choices and with the introduction of AWA and the corrosive effects that those had on our entire society, not just working people but their families. They were blatant about their support to cut penalty rates for retail and hospitality workers in 2017, and just yesterday we saw the antics of the shadow minister for industrial relations and employment as he sought to delay a bill which only seeks to secure protections for penalty rates and overtime rates for the working people of this country. In contrast to that, Labor has a proud record for advocating for higher wages for workers.

I've spent much of my working life standing up for and standing beside working people, and, when you stand beside working people when they are facing significant challenges at work, whether that be facing discrimination in the workplace, whether that be facing a loss of wages or whether that be discrimination, an unfair dismissal or being sacked—these are all things that impact working people every day. When you stand next to those workers, you realise how critical pay and conditions are. The only things that those opposite have ever stood for when it comes to workers are stripping their pay, stripping their conditions and making their lives worse off.

This bill continues the work of the Albanese Labor government to implement workplace relations reform, to uphold the rights of workers and, crucially, to get wages moving again. Labor has consistently backed in minimum wage increases at every annual wage review since May 2022. Minimum wages have again been increased from the first of this month by 3.5 per cent. This is direct cost-of-living support for three million workers—one that working people deserve—including cleaners, retail workers and early childhood educators. ABS data in May this year showed that annual real wages have grown for 18 months in a row under the Albanese Labor government.

That's growth for six quarters in a row.

Those opposite—we saw them do it during the election campaign; we've seen them do it again in this chamber this week and last week—would have you believe that wages can't be increased without negatively impacting other parts of the economy, but the facts speak for themselves. They said that inflation couldn't come down if we were giving working people more money, and we have seen inflation come down from having a six in front of it to a two in front of it. They said that we couldn't keep unemployment low if we were giving working people more money, and we see unemployment at record lows under this Albanese Labor government. They say it again and again, and what we know to be true is that these are scare campaigns designed to make sure that working people do not have the wages and conditions that they need and deserve, and this bill is there to protect them. This is in stark contrast to the years of stagnation under the former government, where wages fell for five quarters leading up to the 2022 election.

The wage price index grew 0.9 per cent in the March quarter 2025 to be 3.4 per cent higher through the year. Real wages grew one per cent through the year to the March quarter 2025. More than one million jobs were created during the government's first term, and that is a record for a parliamentary term. The landmark same-job same-pay reforms delivered pay increases for workers across the country. It ensured that those working as labour hire are not paid less than permanent employees when they are doing the same job. This reform had further benefits in improving culture in the sector, increasing the number of permanent roles and promoting stability across the economy.

Labor has passed legislation that has fairness for workers at its core. The right-to-disconnect legislation protects workers after they've clocked off for the day, and the closing loopholes legislation empowers casual employees, gig workers and truck drivers. Eligible casual employees can now choose whether they want to switch to a permanent basis at work. Those opposite wanted to walk this reform back, but the Australian people told us what they wanted on 3 May. The Australian people told us that they wanted cost-of-living relief. The Australian people told us that they wanted 20 per cent off student debt. The Australian people told us that they wanted cheaper medicines. The Australian people told us that they wanted penalty rates and overtime rates fundamentally protected. These are the things that this Albanese Labor government is delivering—not tomorrow, not the day after, not next year, but today and this week as our first priority as we come into this place.

At the first speech I was able to make last week, I paid tribute to a number of local working people in my community. I paid tribute to Maria, a teacher aide in Acacia Ridge. I paid tribute to Brian, a blind-cleaning company scheduler in Annerley. I paid tribute to Ryan, a young apprentice tradie living in Salisbury. Each of these people have a story to tell when it comes to the economy of our nation. Each of these people make up the bedrock of what keeps our economy moving. And what they deserve is the wages and the entitlements that allow them to keep doing that for our country. So, when we talk about this bill, we are not talking about an amorphous impact on something that we don't understand. We are talking about real working people and the impacts that penalty rates and overtime rates have on them every single day—and not only on them but on their families and their communities.

It is important that this bill be passed urgently so the Fair Work Commission can apply the amended legislation to the cases of the retail, clerical and banking sectors that are currently before it. The amended legislation will come into effect the day after it receives royal assent, reflecting both this urgency to protect working people and the Albanese Labor government's commitment to implementing our election promises, something that we have seen again and again in these first two sitting weeks. This bill ensures the fair and decent treatment of award based workers, hardworking Australians who rely on penalty rates and overtime rates every single day.

And this is in Labor's DNA.

It's at our core. It's what we believe in. It's what we do every single day. We wake up in the morning with the drive to make sure that working people have a fair go, and you cannot have a fair go unless you are receiving what you need to when it comes to wages and when it comes to penalty rates. This is what this legislation is designed to do—to protect the fair go of working people in this country.

Only a Labor government will continue to implement cost-of-living support; only a Labor government will stand up for working people; only a Labor government values their contributions, not just on one day but on every day; and only a Labor government will safeguard the penalty and overtime rates that they deserve for their hard work each and every day. I commend the bill to the House, and I want to make sure that people understand that this bill is for everyone who works every day and deserves those penalty rates. (Time expired)

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