Page 3392 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 October 2022
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MR BARR (Kurrajong—Chief Minister, Treasurer, Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for Tourism) (10.10): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
As members are aware, the purpose of the Work Health and Safety Act is to secure the health and safety of all workers and workplaces in the territory. The act protects against harm to health, safety and welfare, and is one of the cornerstones of the territory’s legislative framework for protecting and ensuring the workplace rights of Canberrans.
This government will always stand up for the right to be safe at work, and for entitlements that provide safety and security. Every Canberran has the right to be safe at work and to return home safely from work every day. More than that, they are entitled to a healthy workplace and to experience the health and wellbeing benefits of work.
The government has committed to reviewing and amending work health and safety laws to keep workers safe in the territory. These laws are in place to apply to all workplaces, and where any doubt is raised the government will act to ensure that the safety of workers in a particular location or sector is not compromised.
The government considers that this Assembly building is already covered by definitions contained within the Work Health and Safety Act, and in your own submission to the current privileges committee you make the same point:
… it has never been my position or that of the Office of the Legislative Assembly that the WHS Act does not apply to the Assembly, to MLAs or staff working within the precincts … No special exemption or immunity for MLAs has ever been claimed.
The Assembly is a workplace and, by definition, is a person conducting a business or undertaking, and subject to the provision of the legislation. As members, we all carry a responsibility to protect the health and safety of everyone who works in and visits our workplace. We are duty holders under the Work Health and Safety Act. We know that the nature of work undertaken in this workplace is wide-ranging, with responsibilities to our electorates and to the Canberra community, and to those who work for us.
The amendment I bring forward today reconfirms that work carried out by a member of the Legislative Assembly in the exercise of the member’s functions, and work carried out by other people in support of the member in the exercise of the member’s functions, is work carried out in an undertaking for this act.
To be clear, the amendment being proposed does not seek to alter our existing obligations and responsibilities. It seeks to highlight and reinforce that we understand, despite the unique nature of this place, that we are still a workplace and subject to the same laws as others in the ACT. This is not an expansion of any power under the act; it simply removes any doubt as to the extent of the application of the act, an existing
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