Jess Walsh (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank my colleagues and senators across the chamber for their contributions to this debate on the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025. This bill will strengthen protections for Commonwealth workers and Commonwealth workplaces, where workers and visitors are at an increasing risk of violence and aggression while at work. Too often, violence and aggression have devastating impacts on workers and their families, as well as on the safe operation of Commonwealth workplaces and the delivery of Commonwealth services to the Australian community.

The bill seeks to protect public servants like Joeanne Cassar, who people have spoken about today in the chamber, who at 55 years of age and after decades of service, set out for work at a Services Australia branch, at Airport West, one Tuesday morning in May 2023, not knowing that her life was about to change forever. Later that day she was brutally attacked by a man whom Services Australia had identified as a risk to workers but had no legal authority to ban. He punched her in the face and stabbed her once in the lower back, just missing her spine and kidneys but leaving her with life-changing injuries and enduring pain. Unfortunately, the attack on Joeanne is not isolated.

We know that Commonwealth workers and workplaces continue to face an unacceptable risk of violence from members of the public. Indeed, in just a one-year period, Services Australia staff faced almost 1,700 serious incidents. These attacks should never have happened. All Australians have the right to feel safe and to be safe at work.

The Services Australia Security Risk Management Review was commissioned after Joeanne's assault. It was a comprehensive review led by former Victorian police commissioner Mr Graham Ashton, who made 44 recommendations to increase the safety of Commonwealth workers, and the government has committed to implementing all of those recommendations. This bill implements recommendation 17 of that Ashton review by creating a Commonwealth workplace protection orders scheme, and the bill complements the Criminal Code amendment which the government already passed last year to implement recommendation 18 of the Ashton review. That increased criminal penalties for harming a Commonwealth frontline worker.

This bill will enhance the Australian government's ability to protect its employees, particularly those in frontline service delivery roles. The bill was first introduced in 2024 and passed the House of Representatives in February 2025, before the 2025 election. The bill was then quickly reintroduced in the first sittings of this parliament, to prioritise the establishment of a framework to enable a Commonwealth entity to apply to a court for a Commonwealth workplace protection order, or WPO, to protect a Commonwealth worker or workplace from threats of or actual harm. The bill defines a 'Commonwealth worker' to include Commonwealth employees and contractors, such as security officers.

Before issuing a workplace protection order, the court must be satisfied that the respondent has engaged in personal violence in relation to a Commonwealth worker or the workplace and that there is a real risk that the respondent will engage in further personal violence if the order is not made. 'Personal violence' means conduct that causes or threatens to cause harm or a reasonable fear of harm. A court would be able to apply any conditions or restrictions if determined necessary to prevent any future risk of personal violence to a Commonwealth worker or workplace. Conditions could include prohibiting or restricting contact with a Commonwealth worker; prohibiting or restricting attendance at a particular Commonwealth workplace; or a restricted servicing arrangement, such as phone-only appointments, to allow ongoing service delivery as required.

A WPO is available for all Commonwealth workplaces, extending to anywhere a Commonwealth worker is conducting official Commonwealth work. This includes, for example, an office of a particular Commonwealth entity, mobile servicing such as pop-up shops in shopping centres, Commonwealth vehicles or a Commonwealth worker's residence when they are working from home. The safety of Commonwealth workers comes first, but we also want to ensure individuals can continue to access necessary government services. The bill ensures that imposing conditions that would limit the person's ability to access services or contact electoral representatives. The applicant is required to provide the court with information on alternative procedures or arrangements for how the respondent may access or maintain those benefits or services. The court would also be required to consider the personal circumstances of the respondent when determining the conditions attached to an order and ensure that the person still has the ability to access essential services and retain the ability to engage in political communication.

The bill would allow either party to apply to the court to vary or revoke an order. The court would be able to vary the conditions in the order and/or the period for which it is in force. This would allow flexibility where the circumstances of either the Commonwealth entity or the respondent change. The bill also provides that either party would be able to appeal a decision of the court relating to the making, varying or revoking of a final order. Breaching a condition of an order will be a criminal offence punishable by two years imprisonment or 120 penalty units or both. The penalty will act as a deterrent for non-compliance with conditions while protecting workers from any future threatening behaviour. The bill also requires a review three years after commencement.

In conclusion, this bill sends a strong message that the government values the contributions made by Commonwealth workers and that violence and aggression towards those workers and workplaces is never acceptable. This bill creates a whole new act and is a serious reform of worker safety. The bill is a further step to creating safer workplaces for Commonwealth workers and allowing the community safe access to Commonwealth government benefits and services, and the bill offers new protections to all Commonwealth workers, just like Joeanne, who we've been speaking about today, who had dedicated her life to helping others. Public servants devote their professional lives to serving the public. A life of service should be honoured. It should never be scorned, it should never be ridiculed and it should never be unsafe simply to go to work. Every Australian worker deserves to feel safe, to be safe and to come home to their loved ones each day.

I table a replacement explanatory memorandum relating to the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.