Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025 and, in doing so, recognise fairness, sacrifice and an important role penalty rates play in people's lives within our industrial relations system. I'd like to have my name associated with the good senator's contribution tonight. This bill delivers on the Albanese Labor government's key election commitment to protect the penalty rates of around 2.6 million modern-award-reliant workers. The reform will amend the Fair Work Act 2009 to legislate protection to ensure that penalty rates and overtime rates in modern awards cannot be reduced or substituted by another term that would reduce an employee's take-home pay.

I note that employers in the retail, clerical and banking sectors currently have applications before the Fair Work Commission to trade away penalty rates of lower paid workers who rely on modern awards. I'm someone who did various jobs before I came to this place. In fact, in younger days with a young family, you work on a Sunday night, because that actually brings in a bit more income, or you have a second job when you're starting up when you're first married, so you can actually save a deposit and buy a home. I worked as a checkout chick as my second job, and I loved it because I got to talk to people. Penalty rates, for those people that rely on it—if you've ever struggled, as I have, to support a family, then you actually do truly understand—make a huge difference in the hospitality industry. No question about that.

Penalty rates have long stood as a cornerstone of Australia's industrial relations landscape, ensuring that workers who sacrifice their weekends, their nights, public holidays; get up early in the morning; and do shiftwork receive an appropriate compensation for their time, because their time is valuable. Nowhere is the significance of penalty rates more apparent than in the retail sector, where workers are often required to serve on the front lines, away from their families, while much of the country enjoys leisure, community events or time with their loved ones. There are 1.3 million retail workers across Australia, representing nine per cent of the working population. This is a significant number of hardworking Australians, so it is fundamentally important that we reflect on what we value in our society. At their core, penalty rates are designed to acknowledge the personal and social sacrifices made by workers who must labour outside of the standard Monday-to-Friday, nine-to-five routine.

I remember that back during COVID people were singing the praises of those who worked on the front line. Retail workers copped a lot of crap. They did. When they were limiting what you could buy at the supermarket, people were a bit hostile. They were a bit worried, and we honour them. Well, the best way to honour those workers and others who rely on penalty rates is to pass this legislation. For retail workers, these unsociable hours are not a rare exception but a routine reality. The retail sector is uniquely positioned as an industry intimately connected to the rhythms and rituals of daily life, serving customers during weekends, late at night and especially on Sundays and public holidays, when the majority of the population seek rest, relaxation and recreation. For many Australians, Sunday is set aside as a time to gather with family, attend religious services or simply recharge for the week ahead. Public holidays are similarly valued as an opportunity to celebrate significant civil or cultural events. Retail workers, however, are often required to forgo these precious moments, standing behind counters, stocking shelves or assisting customers while all the while their own families gather without them. That deserves compensation.

Retail work is undeniably frontline work. Retail employees are the face of businesses, interacting with hundreds and sometimes thousands of people over a shift, and big business needs to be reminded of that fact. Retail workers manage not only the flow of goods and provision of services but also the emotional labour that comes with customer service. This is especially pronounced during busy periods like Christmas, Easter or the Australia Day long weekend, when stores are bustling and the pace is relentless. The COVID pandemic, as I said earlier, further highlighted just how essential and how exposed retail workers are to our communities, day in, day out. Retail workers serve communities during times of crisis, ensuring the continued supply of food, medicines and other essentials. Despite such vital services, the reality of retail work often comes with modest pay and limited job security. Penalty rates, therefore, are not merely a bonus; they are a necessary form of recognition and reward for the additional burdens carried by those workers across the country.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association, formerly known as the SDA, have been at the forefront of defending the rights of retail, fast food, warehousing and pharmacy workers across Australia. Over the years, the SDA have fought tirelessly to protect penalty rates, recognising their central importance to the livelihoods of workers who already face one of the most demanding and least appreciated occupations in the work that they do and the role that they play in our economy. We know unions are very strong at advocating for their members, but they are there to help safeguard these entitlements at times when there is significant political and business pressure to reduce or remove them.

So I acknowledge the hard work of the SDA branches across the country. I particularly acknowledge the national secretary, Gerard Dwyer, and the secretary of the Tasmanian branch, Joel Tynan. Their commitment to retail workers is unwavering, and we know that they have a number of campaigns going on in relation to the pay for people who are adults in every way except when it comes to their pay. At 18, they can have the same responsibility in retail, they can sign up to go to war and they can buy alcohol, but they don't get paid an adult wage until they're 21.

That's why unions are so important in this country, because they stand up for workers and give them a voice. As an individual, you don't have the same capacity to speak for yourself as when it's done in a collective fashion. Through campaigns, negotiations and collective action, the SDA continue to champion fair compensation for retail workers.