Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Climate Change and Water) Share this | Hansard source

As senators will know, no written reasons were required under the previous government’s fairness test or under the system pre-Work Choices. The government will ensure that the authority provides information to parties to agreements about the approach they will apply to the assessment of workplace agreements. The government will also ensure that the Workplace Authority informs parties to agreements when they have determined whether an agreement passes or fails the no disadvantage test. However, the government has inherited a backlog of around about 150,000 agreements that require assessment by the Workplace Authority. We are working with the authority to clear this backlog, which arose as a result of the previous government’s decisions.

The reality is that it would take additional time to check compliance with the standard in every agreement, particularly given that the standard, which is 140 pages in length, is complex and convoluted and would require a separate assessment to the global no disadvantage test the government has put in place for agreements during the transition period. For these reasons, the government is not supporting the Greens amendment.

In relation to amendment (10), the government reiterates that we believe our no disadvantage test is a fairer test with simpler rules. The government reiterates its desire for a system which provides certainty to employees and employers, including certainty that agreements will be processed and assessed and the parties notified within a reasonable time frame. As senators will be aware, the powers and functions of Fair Work Australia, which the government promised prior to the election, will be developed as part of our substantive workplace reforms later this year.