Murray Watt (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Environment and Water) Share this | Hansard source

I've said a few times now that there are other provisions within the Fair Work Act which, if you like, dictate to the Fair Work Commission what they must do. In fact, section 134, which sets out the objective of modern awards, starts with subsection (1):

The FWC must ensure that modern awards, together with the National Employment Standards, provide a fair and relevant minimum safety net of terms and conditions, taking into account:

(a) relative living standards …

(aa) the need to improve access to secure work …

(ab) the need to achieve gender equality—

and so on. The provision we're seeking to introduce here is hardly the first time that the Fair Work Commission has been told that it must do certain things or must consider certain things. That's one example. I'm sure I could pull out dozens more.