Claire Clutterham (Sturt, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025 has at its heart a desire to provide legal protections for workers and workplaces in the Commonwealth space, to deter acts of violence and to deter other harmful behaviours by members of the public. It is a direct result of the unfortunate increasing risk of harm being faced by Commonwealth workers on a daily basis. This particularly applies to those working in frontline service delivery roles. This legislation is an important step forward in recognising the dignity and safety of workers who dedicate their lives and careers to serving the public.

Across my home state of South Australia, thousands of people work in roles that bring them into direct contact with members of the community every day, often in challenging, highly emotional and sensitive circumstances. These are the workers who staff Centrelink and Medicare counters, support jobseekers and older Australians, deliver the mail, manage immigration and border services, and answer calls in service hubs that Australians rely on. These people perform critical functions, but, too often, they face abuse, intimidation or threats, simply for doing their job. Data tells us that in the year between July 2023 and June 2024, there were just under 1,700 serious incidents across the face-to-face services that Services Australia provides to the Australian public.

Data provided in the submission made by Services Australia in connection with this legislation revealed that, in 2023 and 2024, Services Australia had 27.1 million Medicare customers, 8.5 million Centrelink customers and 1.1 million child support customers and that, as at 31 December 2024, there were just over 35,000 people working in Services Australia roles. The data also indicated that, during 2023 and 2024, frontline workers in service centres acted to support Australians through approximately 10 million customer contacts—an extraordinary achievement. That is dedication and commitment to the Australian people. But regular instances of customer aggression meant that, during that period, service centre staff reported just over 12,000 customer aggression incidents, including the just under 1,700 that are recorded as serious incidents. Services Australia has reported that incidents of customer aggression included experiences of physical assault, including with a weapon. This is in addition to spitting; arson; objects being thrown at frontline workers; repeated exposure to obscene and offensive material; verbal abuse, including serious threats of harm; and property damage.

This is not acceptable. The mental health toll that these acts of customer aggression take on staff and their families is not acceptable. The loss of confidence that these acts of customer aggression cause to staff is not acceptable. The economic cost of absence from the workplace and the economic cost of other productivity losses by virtue of these acts of customer aggression is not acceptable. Equally, the physical cost must also not be forgotten. It is a terrible thing that, as recently as May 2025, two Australian Border Force contractors were seriously assaulted with a bladed weapon whilst at work. This is not acceptable. This government values the work that frontline Commonwealth workers do every day to support their fellow Australians. This government takes the view that any violence against Commonwealth workers is unacceptable, and this legislation is designed to deter this kind of repugnant conduct.

The purpose of the legislation is simple. It is to ensure that those who serve the public can do so safely. It allows for the granting of swift and effective protection orders when workers face harassment, stalking, threats or violence in connection with their work. At its heart, this legislation makes it clear that, if you step up to serve the public, you deserve to be safe while providing that service. Select courts will, therefore, upon application by an authorised person and after taking into consideration relevant circumstances, be able to issue a workplace protection order on behalf of a Commonwealth worker or workplace. Workplace protection orders can be issued in circumstances where personal violence against a worker or a workplace has arisen out of or is in direct connection with the official functions or duties of the relevant worker or relevant workplace and when there is a real risk it will occur again if an order is not made. 'Personal violence' is defined to include acts of violence, harassment, intimidation, threats of harm and other harmful non-physical violence such as verbal abuse over the phone or via email.

I also want to recognise the balance that has tried to be struck and which strikes at the heart of this reform. Government services must remain open, accessible and welcoming to everyone, especially those who are under pressure and may be at their most vulnerable when they walk through the door, when they are feeling helpless, when they are feeling let down, where they have nowhere else to turn. The goal of the workplace protection orders act is to ensure that every member of the community can seek help in an environment that is safe, respectful and constructive. Important to this is the understanding that the imposition of a workplace protection order will not eliminate or limit any person from accessing necessary Commonwealth services as required. This strikes the careful balance between protecting the health and wellbeing of workers and the need for all Australians to be supported through life's many challenges. The legislation does this by contemplating alternative procedures or arrangements for how the person over whom a workplace protection order has been issued may still access the support services that they need. If someone is subject to a workplace protection order, they are not barred from receiving help, because services, support and assistance can still be provided through alternative means such as scheduled appointments, phone or online channels or with staff in supervised and managed environments, facilitating the right to payments and services by ensuring that they can be accessed in a safe way, thus allowing for both staff wellbeing and the delivery for Australians at difficult and challenging times of need. That is the balance that has been sought and that is the balance that will be struck by this legislation. We know that a reduction or elimination of services or support for a person who is on the edge may have even more adverse consequences for that person, for their family and possibly for the community, and that is the motivation for the balance that this legislation seeks to achieve.

Under this legislation, affected workers are also granted privacy protections as well as workplace health and safety protections, so they do not need to bring an application forward in their own name. This privacy regime protects them from any adverse consequences that may arise from having to bring the action in their own name. This important scheme will be available to most Commonwealth workplaces, extending to anywhere a Commonwealth worker is conducting official Commonwealth work.

This matters deeply in South Australia, where service delivery roles are a backbone of our communities. In Sturt, and across the country, staff at Services Australia sites and other frontline agencies provide support for families, support for people with disability and support for those experiencing unemployment or hardship. They are often the face of government, explaining complex systems, helping people in crisis and doing their best to resolve issues and achieve an outcome.

Some of these people work at the Services Australia branch located in Norwood, in the very heart of my electorate of Sturt, where staff provide services to residents of Sturt in connection with Centrelink, Medicare and My Aged Care and where residents also access information in relation to child support and the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Yet, because these workers are the point of contact, they are also the ones most exposed when frustration spills over into aggression. Protecting these workers is about valuing the people who make government services accessible and human.

It is also personal for me. In Sturt I have recently set up the Sturt electorate office, with a team of young staff with diverse backgrounds from the private sector and from the public sector, who joined me because they want to help their community. They see themselves as a front door for people needing access to government, whether it is for a pension issue, support to understand the visa and immigration system, assistance with Centrelink or with tax or with housing, the provision of a pocket constitution or the provision of the Australian flag. These young people bring energy, compassion and commitment to their work every day, and I want to know that, when they do that, they are safe.

I want to know that when someone walks into the Sturt electorate office, or makes contact with the electorate office online, through the telephone, at a shopping centre visit or at a street-corner meeting, the excellent team in the Sturt electorate office can help our community and do their jobs without fear of intimidation or harm. This legislation gives me that assurance. It gives me the assurance that workers in Services Australia offices—all 35,000 of them across this great country—will be safe when they provide support services to Australians during life's challenging times.

Ultimately, this legislation is about respect. It is respect for people who show up each and every day to help their fellow Australians navigate essential services. It is respect for their role in keeping our systems running. Protecting them is not just good workplace policy; it is the right thing to do.

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