Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in strong support of the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025. We often talk about workplace safety in the context of mining sites, construction sites or heavy industry, but we're here today because, even in Commonwealth offices, the risk of violence is very real.

As Joeanne Cassar set out for work on 23 May 2023, she thought it would be like any other day. As a team leader at Services Australia's Airport West Service Centre in Melbourne, she was preparing for the Biggest Morning Tea, with biscuits she had baked and decorated herself. But, that morning, a man previously identified as a risk, but with no legal means to be barred, entered the office. When Joeanne asked him to leave, he did, only to return later with a knife. Covering for a security guard on his lunch break, Joeanne was attacked. She was punched, chased and stabbed in the back—the blade missing her spine and kidneys by only centimetres. Joanne has suffered lifelong injuries from the stabbing. She said that she had known of a lack of safety measures and that they were a major concern for her before her life-threatening attack at work. She has said: 'We should all be safe at work. We all have family we want to get back to. It took me seven days to get home, and I am one of the lucky ones.'

That truth is at the heart of this bill. All Australians deserve to feel safe at work, to be safe at work and to return home from work, and no public servant should face violence or aggression for doing the really important work of protecting, helping and supporting our community.Sadly, Joeanne's story is not an isolated one. In the period between July 2023 and June 2024, Services Australia recorded almost 1,700 serious incidents across its face-to-face services. This is an unacceptable number. The staff who greet people at these offices are not faceless bureaucrats; they're mums, dads, neighbours, friends and community members. They are workers who are dedicated to public services, and there is never an excuse for aggressive behaviour. There is no excuse for violence or abuse.

This bill delivers on recommendation 17 of the Ashton review, which made 44 recommendations to improve safety for Commonwealth workers. It establishes a framework that allows Commonwealth entities to apply to courts for workplace protection orders. These orders can prohibit or restrict contact with a worker, prohibit or restrict access to a particular workplace or establish alternative service arrangements, such as phone-only appointments. This bill empowers the courts to issue a range of orders. Workplace protection orders apply to all Commonwealth workplaces from service centres to mobile pop-ups and from Commonwealth vehicles to a worker's home when they are working remotely. This applies to our own electorate staff in our offices right across the country. They are also included in the protections. This bill also provides that offences apply regardless of whether conduct occurs here in Australia or overseas and whether threats are made face to face, over the phone or online. That reflects the reality of modern work. Abuse and violence can come from anywhere and in many forms, and our laws must keep pace.

While worker safety is, of course, paramount, this bill also ensures fairness and balance. Where an order might limit access to services, agencies are required to propose alternative arrangements so that no-one is cut off from support they need or are entitled to. The breach of a WPO will be a criminal offence with penalties carrying up to two years of imprisonment. That is an important deterrent needed to stop repeat violence. We are really clear on our message. Assault a worker and you will be punished. Importantly, this new law will not just be set and forgotten. The legislation requires a full review after three years, ensuring we assess its effectiveness, learn from experience and keep the protections up to date.

When violence closes an office, when staff are traumatised, when services are disrupted, it is vulnerable Australians who lose out. This bill protects the community because safe workplaces mean safe and reliable services. It matters everywhere right across the country and particularly in regional and remote towns where Commonwealth officers are the first door people walk through to access Medicare, aged care or income support. If those offices are unsafe, it puts whole communities at risk.

This bill has been welcomed by my comrades at the Community and Public Sector Union, who do excellent work representing workers in Commonwealth workplaces. The CPSU's national secretary Melissa Donnelly called it 'groundbreaking' because it makes worker safety an integral part of public service delivery. She said, 'It's not just about protecting staff from threats and violence but also about making sure community members can access these services in a safe environment.'

This bill does not just stand on its own. It builds on a wider program of reform by this government. Last year, parliament passed the Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Commonwealth Frontline Workers) Act 2024, which strengthened penalties for assaults on Commonwealth workers. With that foundation in place, this bill now creates a preventive framework so that we can act before violence occurs. In last year's budget and in the one before it, this government invested over $300 million in safety and security upgrades at service centres across the country. There has been additional funding for 606 new security guards and better designed and enhanced security at high-risk centres. With a centralised security operations centre, live CCTV monitoring and closer ties with local police, this is a real, funded, practical, safety package.

Of course, we haven't just stopped at safety. This is also about rebuilding Services Australia itself, which, in the past, has suffered from government staffing cuts, leaving call waiting times and claims processing to blow out to unacceptable levels. Labor has been committed to fixing that. Last year we recruited 3,000 permanent staff, and in 10 weeks those teams cleared half a million outstanding claims. Medicare online claims dropped by 78 per cent. Low-income card claims dropped by 77 per cent. Seniors card claims dropped by 59 per cent. These workers that dedicate so much of their time to this work should be protected in their workplace.

Our government is investing in its people, investing in its workers and delivering for Australians. Commonwealth workplace staff right across our country, in our cities, regions and towns, do such an important job for our community, and they deserve our support. This bill ultimately, like any other bill about workplace safety, is about respect—respect for workers who dedicate their lives, in this case, to public service and respect for communities, who deserve safe and accessible government services. Minister Burke in the other place said:

A life of service should be honoured … It should never be ridiculed, and it should never be unsafe simply to go to work.

Everyone deserves to go to work safe and everyone deserves to come home safe. This bill draws a clear line that violence and aggression towards Commonwealth workers will not be tolerated by this government. That is the Labor way—safer workplaces, stronger services and a government that has the backs of people who do this work for the public. I commend this bill to the Senate.