Don Farrell (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Trade and Tourism) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Sheldon for his first supplementary question. Sadly, far too many Australian families will be missing a family member this Christmas due to their loved ones passing away due to a workplace incident. This year, Safe Work reports that to 23 November there have been 144 workplace deaths. Last year there were 195 workplace fatalities due to the traumatic injuries sustained in the course of work related activity.

Everyone has the right to be safe at work. Thanks to the changes that we have passed today, workers can be reassured that, when there are workplace deaths due to employers failing to keep workers safe, those employers will now be held to account.