Carol Brown (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join my colleague Senator Polley in giving a shout-out to Lachie as well and say it was an extraordinary feat to become the Tas/Vic best checkout operator. It was very good, and I wish him all the very best in the nationals in October in Sydney. Again, I congratulate Senator Polley for raising it here in the Senate. Good luck to Lachie!

The Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025, which is before us, delivers on a key election commitment from the Albanese Labor government to protect penalty rates and overtime entitlements for millions of workers who rely on modern awards. It's a simple principle, but one with profound consequences. If you're someone who works weekends, late nights, early mornings or public holidays, then you deserve to have your wages protected. You deserve to know that your pay won't go backwards. This bill is about fairness. It's about protecting workers who put in the hard yards at odd hours—retail workers, hospitality workers, aged-care and disability support staff, cleaners, admin workers and many, many more. These are the workers who rely on the award system to guarantee decent pay and conditions.

Under the Liberal-National government that safety net is always under threat. Right now there are active applications before the Fair Work Commission from employer groups in the retail, banking and clerical sectors seeking to trade away penalty rates and overtime. They want to roll these entitlements into so-called all-in pay rates, leaving workers worse off. This bill puts a stop to that. It will amend the Fair Work Act to insert a new section which requires the Fair Work Commission to ensure that penalty and overtime rates in modern awards are not reduced and that modern awards do not include terms that substitute or trade away those entitlements, where doing so would reduce the extra pay a worker would otherwise receive. This change is urgent. We want the bill passed quickly so it can apply to decisions currently before the commission. If passed, it will mean that those attempts to undermine penalty rates cannot succeed.

This isn't about blocking flexibility. Enterprise bargaining remains unchanged. Employers and workers can still negotiate workplace agreements that suit their needs, so long as they meet the better off overall test. Individual flexibility arrangements in awards will still be allowed. The commission's power to correct errors or resolve ambiguities remains untouched. But, when it comes to the safety net, when it comes to minimum terms and conditions and modern awards, this bill makes it clear that no worker should go backwards.

Penalty rates matter. Overtime matters. These entitlements exist for a reason. They recognise the personal cost of working unsociable hours—missing out on family dinners, weekends with kids, birthdays and community events. It's their compensation for work that is inconvenient, irregular and disruptive to family and social life. Take Jane, a retail worker in Glenorchy in my home state of Tasmania, who earns about $7½ thousand a year in penalty rates. That money goes towards rent, groceries and school fees. She spoke of the toll night shifts take—missing dinner with family and working an opposite schedule to her partner. Or take Daniel in Hobart, who's been in hospitality for 11 years. He told us that he earns around $85 a week in penalty rates—about $4,200 a year. Without that money, he'd have to work more and see his loved ones less. He skips movies and holidays, and, in his words, 'Penalty rates honestly make a huge difference.' For these people, this bill means real protection.

Around 2.6 million workers rely on the modern awards safety net. These workers are more likely to be women, more likely to be young and more likely to work part-time or casually. They are also more likely to be under financial stress and more likely to rely on every dollar in their pay cheque just to get by. Protecting penalty rates is a critical cost-of-living measure. It's part of the Albanese Labor government's broader approach to help Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, and it builds on the workplace reforms we've already delivered.

Since coming to office, the Labor government has delivered real wage increases for award-reliant workers; put gender equality at the heart of the workplace relations system; revived enterprise bargaining, supporting cooperative workplaces; introduced the right to disconnect and improve protections against exploitation; and backed increases to the minimum wage every year. Our workplace laws are delivering results. Millions of workers are benefiting from stronger wages and better conditions. This bill continues that work by closing a loophole that puts low-paid workers at risk.

Some have asked why we've included overtime in this bill when the election commitment focused on penalty rates. Well, the answer is simple. The two go hand in hand. The government has made it clear that both penalty and overtime rates are essential features of modern awards. They are both designed to fairly compensate workers for time spent away from familyand community. This bill doesn't invent a new principle. It gives legal force to something Australians already understand—that workers deserve to be fairly paid for working outside standard hours.

Importantly, the protections in this bill apply to all modern awards across all sectors. They're designed to future proof the system, not just fix the immediate problem. Instead of listing every kind of exemption clause or rolled up rate, this bill sets a clear rule. If a clause cuts the extra pay a worker should get for overtime or penalties, it's not allowed. The commission has to check how it affects each worker, not just the average. If even one worker loses out, the clause can't be included. That's a fair and tough test. For somebody on $25 an hour, losing a 25 per cent penalty isn't a small pay cut; it's a big pay cut.

Some employer groups have criticised this bill. They say it limits flexibility. They say it complicates things. They say it complicates hiring. This bill protects the safety net. It doesn't stop employers negotiating enterprise agreements, it doesn't prevent higher paid base salaries through bargaining, and it certainly doesn't ban discussions around rosters, hours or workplace efficiency. It just ensures that low-paid workers don't have their pay quietly cut from technical award variations. The government has consulted with stakeholders to get this balance right.

This bill is fair, practical and legally sound, and it enjoys strong community support. Australians overwhelmingly believe that, if you work irregular hours, you should be properly paid for it. This legislation reflects that value. It says to workers, 'Your time matters, your family life matters, your pay matters.'

I commend the bill to the Senate.