Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Long service leave is one of the longstanding protections in Australia's workplace relations system—a recognition that, after years of hard work, loyalty and commitment, workers deserve time to rest and recover and to spend with the people who matter most to them. It reflects something deeply Australian: the idea that hard work should be recognised and that fairness in the workplace is not optional; it is fundamental.

In keeping with that sentiment, this legislation, the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, is designed to ensure that workers in the black-coal mining industry can access a right that many of them have earned, but, for far too long, have been unable to claim. This bill connects workers with their lawful long service leave entitlements, ensuring that the system designed to support them delivers on that promise.

Eligible workers in the black-coal mining industry are entitled to portable long service leave, under the coal long service leave scheme. Portable leave exists because of the unique nature of the industry, where workers often move between different employers, projects and worksites across the course of their careers. Without a portable scheme, many of these workers would never accumulate enough continuous service with a single employer to qualify for long service leave. The coal long service leave scheme ensures that service across multiple employers is recognised, allowing workers to build up their entitlements across the industry as a whole. It is a practical and fair system, one that acknowledges the realities of work in the mining sector while protecting workers who contribute to an industry critical to Australia's economy.

However, over many years, several employers have disputed whether they fall within the coverage of the scheme. In some cases, employers have argued that they did not employ eligible workers within the black-coal mining industry, even where workers were performing functions clearly connected to that industry. These disputes have had real consequences for workers. Because coverage was contested, some employees have been unable to accrue their service under the scheme. Others have found themselves unable to access the long service leave entitlements they have worked hard to earn. In effect, workers who'd contributed years of labour to the industry were left uncertain about whether those years would ever be properly recognised. That is why this legislation matters.

This bill introduces measures designed to incentivise employer compliance with the coal long service leave scheme, with the clear goal of connecting workers to their full long service leave entitlements. Employers will be required to provide the necessary employment data, allowing the scheme to create or update service records for workers coming into the system. These records are essential, because they allow workers to begin accruing the entitlements that should rightly belong to them. By ensuring accurate service records are established, the bill helps restore confidence that the scheme will operate fairly and transparently for both workers and employers.

Importantly, this legislation also addresses a practical challenge that has prevented some workers from being connected to their entitlements. In many cases, historically, employment records are incomplete or no longer exist. Under existing record-keeping rules, employers are generally only required to retain employment records for seven years. But the reality of long service leave is that it is earned over far longer periods of time. As a result, workers who may have contributed to the industry years ago can find themselves without the documentation required to prove their service. This bill introduces sensible and fair solutions to that problem. Where records are missing, reasonable assumptions will be permitted to help reconstruct service histories. These provisions are carefully designed to ensure that workers are not denied their entitlements simply because historical records are incomplete. In other words, the absence of paperwork should not erase years of hard work. By allowing reasonable assumptions to fill those gaps, the legislation helps to ensure that workers receive the recognition of entitlements they deserve.

These reforms will benefit a wide range of employees across the black-coal mining industry. At this stage, it is difficult to quantify the exact number of workers who will ultimately benefit, because employers must first submit service records and eligible wage data to the scheme. However, Coal Long Service Leave is already actively engaging with dozens of employers to assess eligibility and coverage. The businesses involved for possible long service leave alterations undertake a broad range of activities across the industry. These include companies providing maintenance and repair services, ensuring that mining infrastructure operates safely and efficiently; labour hire firms that supply skilled workers to undertake maintenance and repair across multiple sites; employers of shotfirers, whose highly specialised work is essential to the safe operation of many mining activities; emergency service providers operating within the mining sector, responding to incidents and ensuring that workers are protected in some of the most demanding environments in Australia; and businesses responsible for testing, inspection and certification, work that underpins safety standards across the entire industry. We must acknowledge that these workers are often deeply embedded in the day-to-day operations of the black-coal mining sector, yet historically some have found themselves outside the scheme because of technical disputes over coverage. This legislation helps correct that situation, ensuring that workers performing essential functions are properly recognised within the system designed to help protect them.

The benefits will be felt across major mining regions of the country. Workers in the Hunter Valley, the New South Wales North Coast, the Illawarra, Central Queensland and regions like Mackay are among those who stand to gain access to their long service leave entitlements through these amendments. These are communities built on hard work, where generations of families have contributed to Australia's resource sector.

This legislation also recognises an important reality facing many businesses operating in the black-coal mining industry. While the bill rightly focuses on connecting workers with their long service leave entitlements, it also acknowledges that employers must be supported to meet their obligations in a practical and sustainable way. The goal here is not to punish businesses that are trying to comply but to bring them into the system in a way that strengthens the coal long service leave scheme for everyone involved, because, ultimately, a scheme that works well for workers must also be one that employers are able to participate in with clarity and certainty.

Recent legal findings in the Hitachi and Orica cases have provided much-needed clarity around coverage within the black-coal mining industry. These cases clarified that a number of employers who previously believed they were outside the scheme are in fact covered by it. As a result, some businesses have discovered that they now carry substantial historical levy debts. These liabilities have accumulated over time, often across many years of past employment activity. For some employers, the size of these historical obligations could present significant financial and administrative challenge if left unaddressed. This bill responds to that challenge with practical and balanced measures. It creates a pathway for employers to repay historical levy debts in a predictable and manageable way. Under the proposed arrangements, employers will have the ability to repay those debts over a six-year period. That extended timeframe recognises the scale of some historical liabilities while ensuring that the obligations are still met. It provides certainty for businesses and it allows the scheme to recover the funds necessary to support workers' entitlements.

The legislation also introduces further incentive designed to encourage participation in the repayment framework. Employers who opt into the payment arrangement scheme will be eligible for a 20 per cent waiver on their historical levy debt. This measure recognises that many businesses are seeking to do the right thing once their coverage has been clarified. By offering a partial debt waiver, the bill supports employers with significant liabilities while encouraging them to come forward and engage with the scheme. It is a practical incentive that promotes cooperation rather than conflict. The legislation also ensures fairness where employers have already paid long service leave entitlements directly to workers. In some circumstances, employers have provided long service leave payments to employees when their employment ended. Without reform, those businesses could face the risk of effectively paying the same entitlement twice. To address this, the bill allows employers to deduct those direct payments from their historical levy debt. This ensures that workers still receive the entitlements they deserve while preventing unnecessary double payment by employers.

Importantly, participation in the payment arrangement scheme is entirely voluntary. It is an opt-in system, allowing businesses to choose the approach that best suits the circumstances. Employers who choose not to participate remain subject to the existing legislative framework, and, importantly, workers retain the ability to pursue questions regarding their eligibility for the scheme through existing mechanisms. In other words, the rights of employees remain fully protected.

The bill also introduces a time limited opportunity for employers to access a more streamlined onboarding pathway into the scheme. At present, onboarding processes can take considerable time. In some cases, the process of bringing employers into the scheme has taken between 12 and 18 months. This can delay both compliance and the connection of workers to their long service leave entitlements. The new arrangements aim to significantly reduce that timeframe.

They introduce simplified wage calculation methods, reducing the need for employers to reconstruct highly detailed historic payroll records. They allow for reasonable assumptions where historical data gaps exist, acknowledging that perfect records are not always available many years later, and, importantly, they enable payment arrangements to move forward without needing to resolve every historical data issue before progress can occur. This ensures that administrative complexity does not become a barrier to compliance or become a barrier to workers receiving their entitlements.

Alongside these measures, the bill also strengthens compliance within the Coal Long Service Leave Scheme itself. It addresses a defect in the current framework relating to the additional levy that applies to late payments. This additional levy was designed to act as a penalty, encouraging employers to pay their levies on time. However, the rate used to calculate this penalty is linked to an interest measure that is no longer published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. As a result, the existing calculation no longer operates effectively as a deterrent. This legislation corrects that issue by introducing a modern and transparent benchmark. Under the new arrangements, the additional levy will be calculated using the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate. This change restores the original intent of the penalty, ensuring that late payments carry a meaningful financial consequence. At the same time, it provides a clear and publicly available reference point that is understood across the economy.

Stronger compliance ultimately benefits workers. When employers meet their obligation on time, the scheme has the resources necessary to ensure that long service leave entitlements are properly funded and delivered, and, when the system operates as intended, more workers gain access to the benefits they have earned through years of service. Taken together, these reforms represent a balanced and practical approach. They support workers by ensuring their entitlements are recognised and protected. They support employers by providing manageable pathways to meet their obligations, and they strengthen the Coal Long Service Leave Scheme so that it can continue to operate effectively for years to come, because fairness in Australia's workplace system depends not just on the rights we establish but on our ability to ensure those rights are delivered in practice.

The principle behind this bill is straightforward. If workers have earned their long service leave, they should be able to have access to it. If they have spent years contributing their skills, effort and dedication to an industry, that service should be properly recognised. This legislation strengthens the Coal Long Service Leave Scheme, improves compliance and ensures that more workers are connected with the entitlements they deserve, because fairness in the workplace is not just a principle we talk about in this place; it's something we must continue to deliver in practice for working Australians each and every single day.

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