Mary Fisher (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, are you aware of comments made by the Deputy Prime Minister referring to the 138,000 Australian workplace agreements awaiting processing and finalisation? Are you aware of comments by the Deputy Prime Minister that processing that backlog could take 8½ months? She said:

“That is eight and a half months where employers and working Australians would have no idea whether or not … the agreement they were working under was lawful.”

The Deputy Prime Minister went on to say:

“It is conceivable that after five, six, seven, eight months of delay in processing, a small business in this country is going to be told that its agreement has failed,” she said.

“If you are told it’s failed eight months after it’s been made then that quantum of back pay could break a small business …”

Minister, what amendments will the government be making to this bill to reduce that time delay and to ensure that employees in Australia know their rights and small businesses know their rights and obligations?