Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Sovereign Capability) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will be clear on this: the energy transition being pushed by this Labor government is a reckless gamble with regional jobs. Those opposite want to rush headlong into a future they haven't properly engineered. They want to rely on technologies that still require the very resources that they are trying to demonise. But mining isn't going anywhere. It can't go anywhere. There is no such thing as commercially made green steel. If you need steel, you need Australian coal. If the world wants high-tech electronics, it needs the minerals that are extracted using coal powered energy. Those who think that food comes from the supermarket and energy comes from a wall socket don't have any understanding of the digging and doing that happen in regional electorates like Dawson.

This bill is about more than just long service leave; it's about respecting the service of the miners who have built this country. It's about respecting the expertise of the tradies in Paget. It's about respecting the economic reality that coal is and will remain an essential part of the global energy mix. Real respect for our miners would see a government that stops turning its back on Queensland. We want to see real investment in the Bruce Highway, not just intersection repairs that wash away in the first tropical downpour or money pledged that won't be spent in a decade. We want power prices that reflect our status as an energy-rich nation, not prices that force our manufacturers to look offshore.

To the coalminers living in the greatest electorate of Dawson my message is simple: I know how hard you work and I know how much you sacrifice. This bill needs to ensure that your time is counted and your leave is protected. I also know that you are worried about the future. You are worried about this Albanese Labor government, which seems more interested in pleasing inner-city elites than in supporting regional workers who pay the bills. I will continue to be your voice. I will continue to point out the hypocrisy of those who want to use coal to build their green future while calling for that very same industry to be shut down. Let's get this legislation right. Let's ensure the records are accurate, the payments are fair and the future of the Bowen Basin is as bright as the coal is black. I support the bill, but I demand the scrutiny our workers deserve. Do not let this be a surface level fix. We must drill down until we are sure that all coalmining communities are getting the fair go they were promised. I commend the bill to the house.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. This bill amends two pieces of Commonwealth legislation: the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992 and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Payroll Levy Collection Act 1992. The amendments address two matters that have arisen over the time in the operation of the portable long service leave scheme for the black-coal mining industry. The first concerns historical levy liabilities that have accumulated following disputes about the scope of the scheme. The second concerns the operation of the additional levy that applies where levy payments are made late. Each of these matters goes directly to the integrity of the scheme and to the ability of workers to access entitlements that the law provides.

To understand the significance of these amendments, it is necessary to briefly consider the purpose of the portable long service leave scheme itself. The long service leave arrangements that apply in the black-coal mining industry reflect a longstanding feature of employment in the sector. Coalmining is an industry characterised by movement of labour between sites, between contractors and between operators. Workers often spend decades in the industry, yet their employment may be spread across multiple employers during that time. In those circumstances, a traditional model of long service leave that relies upon continuous employment with a single employer does not adequately recognise the reality of working life in the industry. The Commonwealth scheme addresses that problem by allowing long service leave to accrue based upon service within the industry itself. Employers contribute to the scheme through a payroll levy paid into a central account. Service records are maintained by the scheme administrator, and, when a worker becomes entitled to long service leave, the employer is reimbursed from the fund. The practical effect is that a worker's mobility within the industry does not deprive them of the entitlement that would otherwise arise from long periods of service.

This principle—that workers should not lose their entitlements simply because of contracting structures or labour hire arrangements—is consistent with the broader industrial reforms this parliament has undertaken. The government's Fair Work Amendment (Same Job, Same Pay) Bill 2021 was introduced to ensure that labour hire arrangements are not used to undermine wages and conditions negotiated through enterprise bargaining. The same underlying principle applies here. The structure of employment should not be used as a device to avoid the obligations that arise from work performed in the industry. That act establishes the entitlement and defines who is an eligible employee for the purposes of the scheme. The legislative framework underpinning that system is set out principally in the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Administration Act 1992. The statutory definition incorporates workers employed in the black-coal mining industry whose duties are directly connected with the day-to-day operation of the coalmine. Importantly, the act adopts the meaning of the black-coal mining industry contained in the Black Coal Mining Industry Award 2010. The award definition includes the extraction of coal, the processing and transportation of coal on a mining lease, and other work directly related with these activities.

The interaction with the statutory definition and the award coverage provisions has, over time, been the subject of litigation. In particular, a number of employers disputed whether certain categories of workers fell within the scope of the scheme. Those disputes often involved contractors performing specialist services at or around coalmines. In some cases, employers argued that these services were ancillary to mining operations and therefore outside the statutory concept of employment in the black-coal mining industry. Those issues were ultimately considered by the Federal Court in a series of proceedings, including Hitachi Construction Machinery (Australia) Pty Limited v Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation and Orica Australia Pty Ltd v Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation.

The Orica litigation provides a useful illustration of the issues that arose. That matter concerned employees engaged in shot-firing activities at open-cut coalmines. Shot firing involves the controlled detonation of explosives to remove, overburden and expose coal seams for extraction. The Federal Court noted that the process of shot firing is closely integrated with the extraction of coal and forms part of the operational sequence through which mining takes place. It is coordinated with production schedules and with safety systems operating across the mine site. The litigation required the court to examine the statutory definition of eligible employee and the manner in which that definition interacts with the coverage provisions of the Black Coal Mining Industry Award. In resolving those issues, the court clarified aspects of the scheme's coverage and the circumstances in which employees performing work at coalmines may fall within the statutory framework. It must be said that many employers complied with the scheme in good faith throughout that period. Others, however, adopted a far narrower view of the legislation and chose not to contribute levies while those disputes were being tested through the courts. Whatever the legal arguments may have been at the time, the consequence of those decisions was that workers' service was not recorded within the scheme.

The consequences of that clarification extend beyond the parties to the litigation. Where employers have previously taken the view that particular workers fell outside the scheme, levies may not have been paid in respect of those employees. The clarification provided by the courts therefore creates the possibility of historical levy liabilities arising for earlier periods. In some cases those liabilities extend back for many years. The existence of those historical liabilities presents practical challenges. Employers may face significant retrospective obligations. At the same time, workers whose service has not previously been recorded within the scheme may have periods of employment that have not been recognised for the purpose of calculating their long service leave entitlement.

It should also be understood that the payment framework established by this legislation is not intended to reward avoidance of obligations. It is intended to resolve historical disputes and restore the proper operation of the scheme. The expectation is that employers operating in the black-coal mining industry will comply not only with the letter of the legislation but with its purpose—ensuring that workers' long service leave entitlements are properly funded. The legislation establishes a structured pathway through which historical levy liabilities may be addressed. It is within that context that the amendments contained in this bill operate. Employers will have the opportunity to enter into voluntary payment arrangements with the scheme administrator. These arrangements allow outstanding levy liabilities to be repaid over an extended period.

The legislation also provides for a limited remission of a portion of historical liabilities where employers comply with these arrangements. The intention is to create an incentive for employers to regularise their position within the scheme and to resolve outstanding liabilities within the defined timeframe. It is important to emphasise that these provisions do not reduce the entitlements of workers. Any remission relates to the employer's levy liability rather than the entitlement of employees under the scheme. Workers remain entitled to full recognition of their service in the industry for the purpose of calculating long service leave.

The bill also addresses the practical issue of historical record keeping. Some of the liabilities identified through the litigation extend well beyond the seven-year period for which employers are generally required to retain employment records. In many cases it may therefore be difficult to reconstruct precise payroll data for earlier periods. The legislation recognises this practical reality. It allows reasonable assumptions to be made in circumstances where records are incomplete so that service can still be recognised for the purpose of determining entitlements. In this way, the absence of historical documentation will not prevent workers from accessing benefits that correspond to their period of service in the industry.

Alongside these measures, the bill also establishes a framework through which employers can regularise their position within the scheme in a manner that supports its continued financial viability. Payment arrangements may extend over several years and will be subject to the oversight of the scheme administrator. The legislation also recognises that in some circumstances employers may have previously paid long service leave entitlements directly to employees outside the scheme. Where that has occurred, the legislation allows these payments to be taken into account when determining outstanding liabilities so that employers are not required to duplicate payments in respect of the same entitlement.

The bill corrects a technical defect affecting the compliance framework of the scheme. The current legislation provides for an additional levy to apply where employers fail to make levy payments on time. The purpose of the additional levy is to encourage compliance with payment obligations. However, the statutory formula presented refers to a reference interest rate that is no longer published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. As a consequence, the mechanism does not operate as it was originally intended. The amendments replace that outdated reference with a contemporary rate published by the Reserve Bank, ensuring that the compliance provisions of the legislation continue to function as intended.

These amendments will have practical consequences across Australia's major coal producing regions. Workers in the Hunter Valley, Illawarra, Central Queensland, Mackay and Whitsundays regions are among those whose entitlements may be affected by the operation of the scheme. These regions have long been central to Australia's coal industry and remain important centres of employment and economic activity. For many communities in those regions, coalmining has shaped generations of working life.

This is also something that resonates with my own background. I grew up in regional New South Wales and, like many families in mining communities, I have relatives who worked in coal mines. In places like the Hunter Valley, the mining industry has been a defining feature of local economic and social life. Workers have spent decades in and around mine sites undertaking demanding and highly skilled work. Long service leave in that context has always represented recognition of sustained service under those conditions. It acknowledges the years that workers devote to the industry and the communities that depend upon it. In circumstances such as these, the role of parliament is to ensure that the statutory framework governing those entitlements continues to operate effectively.

Where the courts clarify the meaning of legislation, parliament must address the administrative consequences that follow from those decisions. The amendments contained in this bill perform that function. They ensure that the portable long service leave scheme continues to recognise service across the industry while addressing the practical issues that have arisen through litigation and the passage of time.

The portable long service leave scheme has been a longstanding feature of employment regulation in the coalmining industry. It reflects an understanding that the structure of that industry requires a different approach to recognising long service. By allowing entitlements to accrue across employers, the scheme ensures that workers who move between projects or operators are not disadvantaged as a result of that mobility. The amendments before the House ensure that the scheme continues to operate in accordance with that principle. They provide a pathway for resolving historical levy liabilities that have arisen following litigation. They ensure that service performed by workers within the industry can be properly recognised. They also strengthen the compliance framework that supports the financial sustainability of the scheme.

In doing so, the legislation reinforces a principle that has long been recognised in Australian industrial law: that service to an industry should be acknowledged even where employment occurs across multiple employers over time. The portable long service leave scheme for the coalmining industry is an expression of that principle. For those reasons, I commend the bill to the House.

Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in strong support of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. I do so not just as the member for Hunter but as someone who spent years working as a coalminer. I know what it's like to put the boots on in the dark, to work long shifts, to miss birthdays, to miss weekends and to come home covered in coal dust, knowing you've earnt every dollar the hard way. Mining is not an abstract policy issue for me. It is my community, it is my family and it is my mates. This bill matters because it goes to something fundamental: fairness, certainty and respect for people who built this industry and continue to power this country and the world.

Long service leave in the coal industry is not a bonus or a perk. It is a hard-earned entitlement that recognises the physical and mental toll of years working in the mining industry. The portable long service leave scheme exists because miners move between sites, contractors and employers across long careers. Without portability, too many workers would miss out entirely. This scheme was built to stop that from happening. But, for too long, gaps and disputes in the system have meant that some workers could not access what they were owed, through no fault of their own. This bill fixes that. At the heart of this legislation is connecting coal workers to their lawful long-service leave entitlements as quickly and as fairly as possible. That is the purpose, that is the priority, and that is why Labor is acting.

The bill addresses two longstanding legacy issues in the coalmining industry long service leave scheme. First, it deals with the historical levy liabilities that arose because of years of legal disputes about coverage. Those disputes left some employers outside of the scheme and workers unable to access or accrue their entitlements. Second, it fixes a broken penalty mechanism by updating an outdated levy rate that no longer functions as an effective compliance tool.

These are technical issues, but the consequences for workers are very, very real. Recent court decisions, including the Hitachi and Orica cases, have now clarified coverage under the scheme. That clarity is very welcome, but it also means that some employers suddenly face large historical levy debts and some workers still sit in limbo waiting for their service records to be recognised. This bill responds to that reality. It does not pretend the past did not happen. It deals with that honestly, practically and in ways that puts workers first.

The legislation establishes a time limited voluntary payment arrangement that allows employers to pay outstanding levies in a structured and manageable way. Employers who opt in can repay approximately 80 per cent of their unpaid levy, with the remaining portion waived if they comply with the arrangement. Let me be very clear about this point, though, because it will be misrepresented, I'm sure. This is not a giveaway to employers, and it does not reduce a single worker's entitlement. Every worker remains entitled to 100 per cent of their long-service leave. The waiver does not come out of workers' pockets. It is funded by the coalmining industry long service leave fund and designed to get employers into compliance so workers can finally have access to what they are owed. The alternative is years more of delay, litigation and workers stuck waiting.

This approach strikes the right balance. It protects the integrity of the fund, incentivises participation and, most importantly, gets workers connected with their entitlements sooner rather than later. This bill also recognises the reality that we are dealing with historical records, sometimes going back decades. In some cases, payroll and service records no longer exist. This bill allows reasonable assumptions to be made about service where records are incomplete, so workers are not punished because paperwork has been lost in time. Again, this is about fairness. A miner should not miss out on leave they earn simply because an employer no longer holds a file from 20 years ago.

This bill also fixes the additional levy rate applied to late payments. At the moment, the legislation references a defunct interest rate that is no longer publishable. That undermines compliance and weakens enforcement. By updating the rate to one linked to the Reserve Bank or set by regulation, the bill restores the additional levy as a meaningful incentive to pay on time. That strengthens the scheme and protects workers into the future.

I want to talk specifically about what this means for the Hunter. The Hunter Valley is the beating heart of Australia's coal industry. Generations of families have worked in mining. It has built towns, funded schools and supported local communities. When people talk about coal in abstract terms, I remind them they're talking about my neighbours, my mates—about electricians, fitters, operators, truckies, cleaners, shotfirers and maintenance crews. This bill will benefit workers across the Hunter Valley and the New South Wales North Coast, the Illawarra, Central Queensland and Mackay and the Whitsundays. But for the Hunter it is especially significant. It means workers who have moved between employers will finally see their service recognised. It means miners approaching retirement will not be left short. It means certainty where there has been confusion. And it sends a very clear message: Labor has your back.

Let's be honest about something else. When it comes to coalminers, there's only one party in this parliament that consistently stands up for them, and that's the Australian Labor Party. Labor built the industrial protections that miners rely on. Labor supports collective bargaining. Labor defends long service leave. Labor brought in same job, same pay. Labor understands that a strong industry, strong work and strong workers go hand in hand. Too often we hear lectures about coal communities from people who have never stepped foot on a mine site. Too often we see miners talked about as an inconvenience rather than a workforce that deserves respect. Labor does not do that.

We back miners, because we are miners. I stand here as proof of that. I am not a career politician who discovered coal when I first ran for office. I lived it, I worked it and I will always fight for the people who still work in it. This bill also shows what responsible transition looks like. It does not abandon workers or strip away their entitlements. Instead, it says that while mining continues workers will be protected. Their leave will be honoured. Their service will count. That is what a just approach looks like.

I also want to say something about trust, because trust matters in communities like mine. For too long, coalminers have been told one thing and delivered another—promises made at election time, more words spoken at press conferences, and then silence when it comes time to actually stand up for the workers and the workforce. That is why legislation like this matters: because it shows follow-through, it shows that when issues are identified and when court decisions clarify longstanding disputes this government acts, and we act with workers in front of mind. This bill does not just tidy up a technical problem. It restores confidence in the system that miners rely on. It says that if you have put the years in and you've done the hard yards across multiple sites and employers then your service will be recognised. Your leave will not disappear into a legal grey zone.

That certainty is especially important for older workers. I've spoken to miners in their 50s and 60s who have been genuinely worried about whether their long service leave would ever materialise. This bill answers those concerns. It's also a matter for younger workers coming into the industry. When you start out you want to know that the rules are fair. You want to know that the system works. You want to know that loyalty and hard work are valued. By fixing these legacy issues we are now strengthening the scheme for the next generation of miners as well as the current ones.

I also want to acknowledge the many contractors and ancillary workers who keep the industry moving. Too often when people talk about mining the only picture is the big operators. But anyone who has worked on a mine site knows the reality. It is the maintenance crews. It is the fitters. It is the sparkies. It's the emergency response teams. It's the water cart operators. It's the people who test, inspect and repair equipment so everyone gets home safe at the end of shift. Many of these workers have spent decades moving between sites and employers, doing essential work, yet have been the ones most affected by gaps in the long service leave scheme.

I want to put a human face on what these gaps in the system actually mean. In my electorate of Hunter I spoke with a tradie from Cessnock named Jeremy, who works in the black coal industry. Jeremy eventually had his long service leave recognised under the coal long service leave scheme, but only after an 18-month process of gathering evidence from multiple employers and proving he'd been working on site in the industry that whole time. Because he worked for contractors, he was not automatically covered. He had to track down old payslips, bank records and employment details dating back years just to prove what everyone already knew: that he'd been working in the industry the whole time. As Jeremy put it: 'It was heavily scrutinised. It should not be that hard when you have been on site the whole time doing the work.'

Years later, one former employer even attempted to change recognised service, arguing technicalities about whether the equipment he worked on counted as mining work. With union support, Jeremy successfully defended this claim, but it reinforced just how vulnerable workers can be when the law leaves room for ambiguity. In Jeremy's words: 'It became a matter of principle. If you have put the time in, it should be recognised.'

Today, Jeremy is finally on long service leave. After unfortunately losing his father in a tragic accident last year, that leave has allowed him to support his family and help his mother adjust to life on her own. 'This industry is intense,' he said. 'Long service leave is recognition that you have dedicated years to it. It gives you time you would not otherwise have—proper time with family.' Jeremy got there in the end, but he should not have had to fight that hard for something he had already earned. And that's exactly why reforms like the ones in this bill matter.

The legislation is part of Labor's long tradition of standing up for workers and fixing broken systems so entitlements are real, not just words on paper. I am proud to support this bill. I am proud to stand up for coalminers and I'm proud to represent a community that have built this country with their hands, their backs and their sacrifice. Labor will always stand up for working people. We will always back the Hunter and we'll always back coalminers. I commend the bill to the House.

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

Our communities expect governments to do everything in their power to back the basic rights of workers across all industries so everyone can seize the opportunities we have in this country to build a great life. The proposed legislation, the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, is about the simple principle that workers should receive in full the entitlements they have lawfully earned.

I think all Australians would agree that, if you put in a fair day's work, you should get a fair day's pay. Long service leave is not a bonus. It's not a gift from employers. It is a right that workers accrue through years of dedication, effort and contribution. These are basic entitlements that workers should have. For generations in Australia, long service leave has recognised the loyalty and commitment workers give to their industries and the contributions that they make every single day. In industries where workers move between employers, portable schemes ensure that workers do not lose their entitlements simply because the nature of the work requires mobility. The coal long service leave scheme reflects that principle.

Workers across the black-coal mining industry, including FIFO workers in my electorate of Chisholm, whether they be directly employed at mines, undertaking maintenance, performing safety roles or providing technical services, play an absolutely fundamental role in their industry. Workers undertake physically demanding and highly skilled work, and they deserve certainty that the entitlements they earn will be there when they need them. Unfortunately, what we have seen over many years, is a situation where some workers have not been able to access those entitlements. Disputes over coverage have meant some employers have argued that they were not part of the scheme. As a result, workers who went to work every day, playing a key role in this major export industry, and should have been accruing long service leave, have been left without recognition of their service and their hard work.

When workers miss out on entitlements they have earned, confidence in the system overall is undermined. Workers should never have to fight simply to receive benefits that the law already says they are entitled to. That is fundamentally unfair. So our government, the Albanese Labor government, is fixing that through this bill. I do appreciate the bipartisan approach from the opposition here in supporting the passage of this bill. It's good to see them support us in backing our workers and ensuring that workers' efforts are recognised through this bill.

This bill incentivises employer compliance with the coal long service leave scheme, with a view to connecting workers to their full long service leave entitlements. Employers will provide the necessary data for the coal long service leave scheme to create or update service records for workers coming into the scheme to facilitate accrual of their entitlements. Where records are missing, reasonable assumptions will be allowed in order to connect more workers with their long service leave. This is designed to ensure workers are not denied their entitlements because historical records are no longer complete.

Two recent rulings of the full Federal Court of Australia on these matters have clarified the scope of the scheme. So many workers in the black-coal mining industry are now able to access their entitlements under this scheme, and, in some cases, employers may face liabilities dating back to 2010, potentially involving millions of dollars in unpaid long service leave levies. Our government is acting decisively through this bill to address those legacy issues.

What this bill does is establish a practical, time limited pathway for employers to resolve those historical levy debts. This pathway means that employers will be allowed to pay their levy in a financially sustainable manner while connecting employees with their entitlements that they've earned. To ensure fairness, employers who have already begun repaying their debts in good faith will also be able to opt in to this pathway. The bill enables employers to create payment arrangements for outstanding levy debts, to be paid in instalments over six years. This gives employers time and certainty to plan while ensuring employees are paid what they're owed. After an employer has paid 80 per cent of the total amount owed, the remaining 20 per cent will be waived.

This here represents a balanced approach designed to encourage employer participation, protect the viability of the scheme and assist employers with substantial levy liabilities. Increased employer participation ultimately benefits employees, who will gain access to their entitlements sooner. Importantly—very importantly—the 20 per cent debt waiver does not affect worker entitlements and eligible workers will still receive their full entitlements. I think it's necessary to emphasise that point. Employers will be required to specify the employees and periods covered under the payment arrangements, maintaining the principle that payments should be directly connected to individual workers' entitlements.

The bill also includes flexibility and support to ensure eligible employees do not miss out on their lawful long service leave entitlement. Industry is supportive of this bill, and in response to stakeholder feedback timeframes may be adjusted so employers can undertake thorough checks and identify all of their eligible employees. The coal long service leave scheme will also work with employers throughout the process to assist them in establishing their payment arrangements. Because these issues are historical in nature, we know that employer records may be incomplete, and so, to prevent that from disadvantaging workers, the bill adopts a fair and practical approach to establishing arrangements and the calculation of employer entitlements. This includes permitting certain simplified calculations and allowing reasonable assumptions to be made where necessary. Such measures will ensure incomplete records do not prevent employees from receiving their historical entitlements.

Some employers acting in good faith have already paid long service leave entitlements directly to employees when their employment ended, and, to ensure that those employers are not required to pay twice, the bill allows eligible payments to be offset against their debt in certain circumstances. In addition to supporting the repayment of historical debts, the bill will strengthen the scheme's compliance mechanisms by updating penalty arrangements. The bill links the additional levy rate to the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate plus two per cent, ensuring the additional levy acts as an effective deterrent to late payments by employers. This is a fair outcome for both employers and employees.

For employees, the bill provides certainty and recognition after many had previously been excluded from the scheme. Workers who may have missed out in the past will have their service recognised and be connected with their lawful entitlements. For employers, it offers a clear and fair process to resolve debts that in some cases extend back 15 years. The 20 per cent debt waiver and the option to pay in instalments will help employers to meet their obligations. These reforms have been developed in consultation with industry representatives, unions and the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave Funding) Corporation. As previously mentioned, stakeholders have expressed support for these changes as necessary and proportionate to maintain confidence in the scheme.

This bill provides a practical and balanced response to complex legacy issues. It reflects the government's commitment to helping employers resolve their debts while ensuring, importantly, that employees are connected with their lawful entitlements.

Long service leave reflects the simple idea that loyalty, dedication and years of service should be recognised. This bill ensures that recognition is not lost because of technical disputes, incomplete records or historical uncertainty. It restores the connection between workers and the entitlements that they have earned, and that, all Australians would agree, is a commonsense approach. On that note, I commend the bill to the House.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill. At the outset, I'd like to say that, while this bill is meaningful for me as a representative of an outer metropolitan seat in Forde, at first glance it may seem unusual that somebody from outside a coalmining town is passionate about this, but there's a few reasons—three reasons, in fact—why this is particularly important to me at both a personal and a political level.

First of all, I come from a mining town—Broken Hill in far western New South Wales—and, while it's not a coal mining town, it has all of the features that I know exist in coalmining towns. It's not about what's dug up; it's about the people who do the digging. These communities are tight. They stick together, they work hard, they play hard and they are the most decent people that you will ever come across. These are communities where everyone has a nickname, everyone loves a joke and everyone looks after each other.

The second reason is that legislation like this is at the very heart of why the Labor Party exists in the first place. Despite struggling on the shop floor to achieve fair pay and conditions, there are some things that you just cannot achieve at the workplace level and there are some things that you need control of the parliament to achieve, to see through, and fixing up coalminers' long service leave entitlements is one of those things.

The third reason is that coalmining is fundamentally important to the economy of Queensland as a whole and to Logan specifically. Logan would probably be the biggest coalmining-commuting community in south-east Queensland. In fact, when I was looking at some of the stats, there's a suburb in Forde called Wolfstein, which has something like five per cent of the workforce directly employed in coalmining. Across the whole electorate, that is somewhere around one to two per cent of people working directly in the coalmining industry, and that's before we even start talking about the royalties that the Queensland government relies on to pay for the services that we all need and enjoy, and all of the associated industries as well.

The first reason that I speak to this bill is because, coming from a mining town myself, I appreciate what it means to be in the mining industry. In fact, I worked for a short time as a contractor to a to a mining maintenance business—

Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I knew it!

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

But you're not wearing the hat, though, today—or there's nothing which I can pin on you there. I won't say that I was particularly talented at it. In fact, I only ever got to the level of being able to break things, never being able to fix them, so, as a wannabe fitter and machinist, I ended up becoming a very good station hand. But being in Broken Hill, you just know what it's like. In another job that I had later on, I was doing income protection for the coalmining industry. I got to spend a lot of time in Moranbah and in Dysart, in Mackay and in Gladstone, and I saw firsthand how it's an understatement to say that they're intertwined with the coalmining industry. These towns are the coalmining industry.

I got to know some of those people so well. I got to appreciate how difficult and dangerous coalmining, in particular, is. It's probably even more dangerous than metalliferous mining—which is saying something because, in Broken Hill, over its 100-year history, something like 700 people have died on those mines. Anyone who has been to Broken Hill would have been shocked and moved by the miners memorial that sits at the heart of that city, just as those deaths sit in the memory of that town. In fact, when I was growing up in Broken Hill, there was always a moment of fear that you could feel spread through the community when an ambulance drove past and you could hear the ambulance siren on the way to the mine, because you knew that that was potentially a family member or a friend who was injured.

From the work that I did in the Bowen Basin and around those Central Queensland coalfields, there are a few individuals that I would like to give a shout-out to today. John Hempseed, Chris Harper, Mark Johnson, Dwayne Muller and Daryl Piper are just five of the people who I came to respect enormously for the leadership that they provided through the AMWU's Coal Shop Stewards committee. Of course—Hempy, Crawchy, Johnno—everybody had a nickname. Everybody liked to throw a bit of fun at each other. I think there's a word there which would be unparliamentary if I were to use it! Daryl is also somebody who I do a little bit of work with now because he is a FIFO worker working from just near our community in Logan.

Hempy, particularly, is someone who's really an indescribable individual. Until you meet him, you just can't appreciate it. He is a big lump of man, now well into his older years. He's a guy who loves life, loves his mates and is not afraid to cry. And it's not surprising when you think about what Hempy's been through in his life. He was there during the Moura mine disaster in 1994, when 11 miners lost their lives—on top of an earlier disaster in 1974 or 1975 where I think 13 people lost their lives—and the truly horrific thing about those 11 people is that a decision was made to plug that mine up after the explosion to prevent any rescue teams endangering themselves further. So those families never knew how those people died or when those people died, and it's something that haunts them as a family, haunts the Moura community as a town and still haunts the coalmining and the wider mining community today. So, when we're making changes to this industry, we remember that these people are really the true definition of 'salt of the earth' and they deserve the support of the wider Australian community and of their governments.

The second reason is that exactly this sort of legislation shows why it is so important to have Labor governments. Fundamentally, the Labor Party exists—and the hint is in the name, the party of labour—because, as much as we fight for conditions and for wages on the shop floor, there are some things that you just can't achieve on the shop floor alone. Portable long-service leave is a perfect example of one of them, but there are other things like free health care, superannuation and free education. These are the sorts of things which you need control of the parliament—you need government—to be able to bring about. You need control of the parliament to be able to protect the rights of workers to strike in the first place. One of the reasons we exist as a party is that striking workers decades ago had to contend with troopers on horseback with sabres coming in to break up strikes. We exist, and we arise out of those battles.

Under the tree of knowledge, exactly. And so it is today. Things like same job, same pay, which this government has enacted; the criminalisation of wage theft; closing labour hire loopholes; industrial manslaughter reforms; secure jobs, better pay—these are the sorts of things that federal Labor and state Labor governments have been able to bring about, the sort of things that can't be achieved just on the shop floor.

Finally, this is a recognition that coal is an important part of our economy. The reality is that the world is committed to decarbonising, and that demand for thermal coal has plateaued and is forecast to go down. No matter what you think about the debate around climate change, two things: one is that coal has been an important part of our economy. We all know why this is such a wrench for the Australian community. Coal is still our biggest export in Queensland. Coal was the magic which powered that postwar economic miracle. Truly the competitive advantage that Australia had against the rest of the world was this ability to create cheap energy out of the ground.

So it is a wrench. There is no doubt it is a wrench on the Australian economy and the Australian people, but it is a reality as well. That's why 24 out of 28 coal-fired power stations brought forward their closing date under the former government. I think the current opposition leader, when he was energy minister, gave something like $3 million to build a coal-fired power station in Collinsville. I don't think they even finished the study, let alone the coal-fired power station. People aren't building coal-fired power stations anymore; that is the reality. One act of this government which the other side would not contemplate is that there needs to be a just transition and that, through the Net Zero Economy Authority, there is a real opportunity for this to ultimately be a good thing for our communities. But it is only Labor governments which have an eye to that just transition and that just future.

So here we have, ultimately, an industry which is important to Australia, important to Queensland and important to Logan and the Gold Coast, which I represent. It's not just people working directly in the coal industry who directly benefit from this legislation; it's people who work in associated industries. One of the biggest employers there for diesel mechanics, for example, would be Hastings Deering, based in Brisbane, right next to the airport. These are the jobs which are directly involved in the coalmining industry or indirectly involved. It just shows how important it is to our economy and how important it is to our communities.

So I want to say here today that this bill, as much as it might seem removed from an outer metropolitan seat, is something which is meaningful to me because of where I come from, because of what it means for our economy and because of what it means for our party. I commend the bill to the House.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to lend my full support to the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. This bill is about fairness, security and respect for the working people who have powered our nation for generations, the coalmining workforce. It is particularly significant for communities like mine in Newcastle, and indeed for the Hunter region, where coalmining has shaped not only our economy but also our identity for more than 200 years now. Indeed, it might be worth reminding the House that the very first export commodity to leave this country left Newcastle in 1799. It was coal on its way to India and that's been a really central part of our economy ever since.

At the outset, on this bill, let me be very, very clear, long service leave is not a perk. It is a recognition of loyalty, endurance and years of hard—and often physically demanding—work. In the coalmining industry, where workers frequently move between employers while remaining in the same industry doing the same jobs, that portable long service leave is an essential part of their wellbeing. Without it, workers lose entitlements simply because the structure of their industry requires mobility, and this legislation makes sure that that does not happen. The coalmining industry long service leave scheme has existed for decades, underpinned by the simple principle that coalminers should not be penalised for the way that their industry operates. This bill strengthens that very principle and modernises the scheme to ensure it remains sustainable, fair and fit for purpose now and into the future.

At its core, this bill delivers certainty. It provides greater financial stability for the long service leave fund. It improves its governance and ensures entitlements earned by workers are properly protected. It also updates administrative arrangements so the scheme can continue to function efficiently and transparently with confidence for workers and employers alike. For coalminers, that means peace of mind. It means knowing that years of service will be honoured. It means knowing that, when the time comes to take long service leave to rest, recover, spend time with your family or care for the your own health or those around you, that entitlement will be there. And for the mining communities like those across the Hunter region, it means economic stability. When workers take long service leave, that money flows directly back into local economies, into the shops, small businesses, services and communities.

This bill matters deeply for my electorate of Newcastle. We have a proud mining history. For generations, coalminers have powered the homes, built infrastructure and driven economic growth not just locally but nationally. Our region is indeed the largest regional economy in this country and that is in no small part to the efforts of the working men and women in the coal industry. While our region is diversifying ,as it needs to, and we're leading in many ways that transition to new energy industries, mining remains an important employer going forward with the abundance of critical minerals and high-tech metals that are still to come. There is a future for all of those highly skilled mining men and women in this nation.

Today there are thousands of families across the Hunter that still rely on the coal industry for their daily bread and butter, and they deserve the same protections and respect as every other worker in this country, and that's the ambition of a Labor government. This legislation recognises that reality. It does not pit workers up against the future. It does not deny the importance of economic transition. Instead, it says something very simple and very Labor—that workers who built this country should never be left behind. Labor has always understood that strong industries depend on strong workers, and strong workers depend on good strong-but-fair work conditions.

Our movement was founded by working people organising for dignity, safety and security. From annual leave to superannuation, from Medicare to paid parental leave, Labor has been the party that turns decent ideas into lasting protections. Portable long service schemes, including in coalmining, are part of that proud legacy. They exist because Labor understands that fairness must adapt to the realities of different industries, that one-size-fits-all models do not work in sectors like mining, where labour mobility is a huge feature, not a flaw. This bill continues that tradition. It's a practical reform that strengthens an existing scheme, responds to changing conditions and ensures that the long service leave scheme works as intended: first and foremost for workers.

Labor's proud record stands in stark contrast to those opposite. Time and time again, when working people have needed their help, their protection, the opposition have been missing in action or, worse, actively undermining workers' rights. We have seen it in the attacks on penalty rates, which stripped incomes from some of the lowest-paid workers in this country. We saw it in the attempts to weaken collective bargaining and the undermining of unions—the very organisations that have fought to secure long service leave, safe workplaces and fair pay. And we saw it in nearly a decade of inaction on job security, during which insecure work skyrocketed and workers were left without basic protections.

When it comes to coalmining communities, the opposition's record is particularly hollow. They are quick to turn up for the photo-op in hi-vis. We see it at every election cycle in our part of the world. They're quick to use miners as political props. But when it comes to delivering real protections, like secure entitlements and properly funded schemes, they have constantly failed to deliver. Labor, on the other hand, backs workers with legislation, not slogans. This bill is a perfect example of that difference. It is careful, responsible reform that has been developed with an understanding of the industry and with respect for the people who work in it. It balances the interests of workers and employers while keeping the long service leave scheme sustainable for the long term. It also sends a clear message to mining families across Newcastle and the Hunter: Labor sees you, Labor respects your contribution and Labor has your back.

As Australia transitions to a cleaner energy future it is essential that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Workers must not be treated as disposable. Communities must not be abandoned. Entitlements must not be eroded. Supporting coalminers' long service leave is part of ensuring that the transition is fair and orderly, not chaotic or cruel. It says that, while industries evolve, our commitment to working people does not waver. For Newcastle and the Hunter, this legislation provides reassurance. It provides local workers who have given decades to an industry that has underpinned our region's prosperity and powered our nation. It ensures that their entitlements are secure and it reinforces the principle that fairness at work is not negotiable.

This bill also reflects Labor's broader approach to industrial relations, one based on balance, cooperation and respect. Rather than tearing down institutions, we strengthen them. Rather than driving a race to the bottom, we want to see those standards lift. And rather than leaving workers to fend for themselves, we want to legislate to protect them. That's exactly what the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill does. It strengthens an important scheme. It protects hard-earned entitlements. And it delivers certainty to workers, employers and communities alike.

I want to take a brief moment to acknowledge the coalminers across Newcastle and the Hunter who have shared their experiences and concerns with me over many years, specifically with regard to the vital importance of coalmining industry long service leave. You have made it very clear how important this long service leave is to your wellbeing and to your families and to our communities at large, and this parliament has the responsibility to listen to those voices.

So I'd urge all members in this House to look beyond the temptation to bunker-in to those political camps and trenches, to those convenient slogans, and to batting away on what forms of energy you want to back or don't back, and to think about bringing your focus to what this legislation delivers. I repeat: it delivers fairness; it delivers security; and it delivers, most importantly, respect for working people in Australia.

Labor's got a proud history of backing workers. We're proud to stand with the coalminers in Newcastle, in the Hunter—indeed, across Australia—and we're proud to support legislation that honours their contribution and protects their future. And, for those reasons, I commend this bill to the House.

Matt Burnell (Spence, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that mining is one of the toughest and most demanding jobs in Australia and, in fact, one of the most dangerous jobs. It has improved over the years, and safety records have improved tremendously, but nevertheless it's still dangerous. It's still demanding. And, as I said, it's one of the toughest jobs that you could do. Miners work long hours in challenging conditions, often far away from their families.

One of the things that stand out in my mind when I think of the mining industry and the workers in mining is, of course, the conditions that they worked under many years ago. As I said, they've improved. But a very good friend of mine, a former secretary of the AWU, Wayne Hanson, would tell me a story, and he mentioned this story many a time. He was a young kid at school in Broken Hill. His father was a miner. He became a miner as well. They would hear the siren go, and the siren was for the change of shifts—7 am and 3.30 pm, I think, which was the afternoon shift, and then the 11.30 shift at night for the midnight shift.

But, if the siren went between those known hours, it meant that something had gone wrong in the mine. It would be shut down, and people would run home from school. The whole town would hear the siren, and dread would overcome the whole town because there'd obviously been either a dreadful accident—someone may have lost their life—or something terrible had happened in the mine for it to be shut down. This was a regular occurrence. He's relayed this story to me of, when he was in school, hearing that siren and thinking: 'Is that my father? Is that my dad or one of my classmates' parents that's been injured or even worse than that?'

So it is a challenging job. It's a dangerous job. Today, safety requirements are much better, and many people make a living working in the mining industries. They help power our economy. They keep our industries moving and shape our entire communities. The work is physically hard, mentally exhausting and absolutely essential. And, because they give so much, they deserve a system that protects them, supports them and honours the years of service they put in.

The Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 makes sure that miners receive the long service leave that they have earned, leave that many have been unable to access because of historic problems with how levies were paid or recorded. These issues go back many years, sometimes decades, and have left workers stuck in uncertainty, unsure whether their service would ever be recognised. Recent court cases helped clarify how the scheme should apply, and this bill steps in to fix the gaps so that workers can finally move forward and claim what is rightfully theirs.

It creates a pathway for employers with unpaid levies to come into the system, make voluntary arrangements and resolve the historical debts in a fair, equitable and workable way. Employers will be able to pay around 80 per cent of what is owed in instalments, and the remainder can be waived once they meet the requirements. This acknowledges the reality that some older records may be incomplete while still ensuring the scheme is properly funded and workers are not left behind. Importantly, the bill also restores the additional levy rate, a tool that helps ensure contributions are paid on time and strengthens the system's ability to hold employers accountable. This makes the portable long service leave scheme more reliable, more transparent and better equipped to protect miners' entitlements for the long term.

At its heart, this is about fairness. Miners don't ask for any special treatment. They don't ask for shortcuts. They simply ask that their years of service be respected and also recognised. This bill helps clear the way for exactly that by fixing these old problems, simplifying how levies are calculated and ensuring that miners can build the long service leave they deserve, no matter which part of the industry they've worked in or how often they've moved between employers. For those workers underground, the workers at the surface, the workers who have carried this industry on their backs, this is about dignity and justice for those workers. It's about giving people the certainty that they should have and should have always had. When someone gives years of their life to the job—their sweat, their strength and their time away from loved ones—the very least they deserve is the security that their service will be honoured. That's what this bill is about.

When we talk about dignity, when we speak about honouring the people who have given so much of their time to this industry, we must talk about long service leave, because that's what long service leave is. Long service leave isn't just a workplace entitlement; it's a recognition. It is respect. It is the industry's way of saying your years of hard work matter and you've earned time to now rest. This bill is about making sure that miners—the men and women who have spent decades underground, on the surface, on the machinery, at the plants on the mines—are finally connected to long service leave that is rightfully theirs.

For eligible workers in the black-coal mining industry, long service leave is meant to be portable. That means that your service should follow you no matter which mine you worked at, which contractor you were hired through or how often the industry changed around you. But, for too long, some employers disputed whether they were covered under this particular scheme. They argued over definitions. They debated eligibility. While those disputes dragged on, it was those workers who missed out, and it was those workers that suffered. Those workers kept on showing up to work—workers who kept putting their safety on the line and workers who kept this country's lights on. They were left unable to accrue their long service leave, unable to access it and unable to claim what they had spent many years earning. This bill works to finally right that wrong. It creates real incentives for employers to come into the Coal LSL scheme, comply with their obligations and provide the information needed so Coal LSL can accurately create or update service records. Without those records, workers cannot build their entitlements, and, without their entitlements, years of service risk being forgotten.

Under these changes, workers will no longer be punished because paperwork was lost or misplaced, because an employer disputed coverage years ago or because records older than seven years were never required to be kept. Where information is missing, reasonable assumptions can now be made, and those assumptions are assumptions that protect the worker rather than disadvantage them. This bill is fairness in action. This is a policy that's compassionate for those workers. This is recognising the reality of an industry where records don't always follow the worker but the worker's service should. No miner should ever reach the end of their career only to be told that the years they devoted to the industry—years, as I said, spent away from family, turning up and showing up every day, years spent in danger, years spent pushing through the fatigue, the hardship and the shift work—somehow didn't count. So this bill ensures that it does count—every shift, every week, every year and every sacrifice. It means workers can finally accrue and access their rightful long service leave not someday, not after years of legal battles, but as soon as possible.

And it restores something deeper than entitlements; it restores faith—faith that the system sees them, faith that the system values them and faith that the system will stand up for them. Miners have always stood up for Australia. Now, the system must stand up for them. This reform does not just affect one group of workers; it reaches across the entire industry. The truth is that we may never fully capture the number of people whose lives will be changed by these measures. We may never meet every miner, every contractor or every support worker whose entitlement will finally be restored. But we know this: the impact will be real, and it will be wide-reaching.

Across the black-coal mining industry, thousands of employees have fallen through those cracks not because they didn't work the hours and not because they didn't earn the service but because of longstanding disputes about whether certain roles were even covered under the scheme. We now have certainty with this bill. Whether they're maintenance crews, repair specialists, labour hire workers, shotfirers, emergency service teams, testing and inspection staff and certification providers—the many unseen hands that keep mines operating day and night and operating safely, smoothly and reliably, often without even receiving the recognition that they deserve—these workers have been the silent backbone of this sector, yet some have been left without that long service leave that they rightfully earned for their hours of work put into the mines. This bill begins to change that.

Coal LSL is already working with dozens of employers to review eligibility and gather the information needed to update the service records. For many workers this will be the very first time in years their dedication is properly recorded. It will be the first time their service is acknowledged and it will be the first time they can finally begin accruing the leave that they were always entitled to. Where records are missing, because they're old, incomplete, were never kept properly or have been mishandled or misplaced, the bill ensures workers are not punished for those gaps. Reasonable assumptions will be made, fairness will be applied and people can finally be connected with what they've earned.

No miner should lose an entitlement simply because a folder went missing or a company disputed its obligations. This is a good reform. It is about doing right by the people who did right by their industry. But fairness must also have a structure behind it, a system strong enough to protect workers not just today but for decades to come. That's why this bill also restores the additional levy, a key compliance tool designed to ensure employers pay their levies on time. We know that, for too long, this penalty has been tied to an outdated interest rate which the Reserve Bank no longer publishes, meaning it no longer discourages late payments the way it was meant to. Without timely payments, the system weakens and when the system weakens, workers suffer. By updating the additional levy to align with the current Reserve Bank cash rate, the bill ensures that compliance is meaningful again and not just symbolic. It sends a clear signal that long service leave is not optional, not negotiable and not something that can be delayed without consequence. When employers meet their obligation, the entire system grows stronger. When the system grows stronger, workers are finally protected.

These reforms work together towards a single powerful purpose—to ensure that every worker in the black-coal mining industry, no matter their role, no matter their employer and no matter their history, can access the long service leave they've earned with their time, their labour, their effort and their sacrifice for every shift, every year and every contribution. This is not just a policy; it is fairness and it is justice for those miners, those workers that work in the mining industry. It is respect for those workers who've carried this industry and contributed so much to Australia's prosperity. It is long overdue.

Debate adjourned.