Page 4009 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 30 November 2022
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are going to businesses that are doing the right thing. At the centre of this initiative was a recognition that government has a role to play in delivering better outcomes for territory workers—that through our purchasing power we can set expectations and mandate high standards for workplace safety, workers’ rights and the delivery of quality goods and services.
In 2019, the government introduced the Secure Local Jobs code via the Government Procurement Act to set workplace standards for providers of goods and services to government. These include standards for pay and employment conditions; insurance, tax and superannuation; health and safety, including training and workplace induction; and collective bargaining, freedom of association and representation rights. Since its introduction, the secure local jobs package has changed the way the ACT government awards contracts and supports businesses that do the right thing by their workers. It strengthens the ACT government’s procurement practices so our contracts are awarded only to businesses that meet the highest ethical and labour standards.
We are continuing to introduce new reforms to strengthen the secure local jobs package. On 1 February 2022 the Ethical Treatment of Workers Evaluation was introduced to strengthen ACT government procurement packages and ensure that contracts are awarded to businesses that meet the high labour standards our community expects. This additional evaluation allows the territory not only to consider compliance with expected workplace standards under the Secure Local Jobs code requirements, but also to consider whether potential tenderers pose any reputational risk to the government because of claims relating to forced labour practices. It embeds and evaluates compliance with the Secure Local Jobs Code and the Labour Relations, Training and Workplace Equity Plan within the government’s procurement assessment criteria.
The Labour Relations, Training and Workplace Equity Plan is required by high-value contracts to provide a competitive advantage in the tender assessment process for employers that have exemplary workplace relations standards. It allows, for example, employers to demonstrate whether, and how, they minimise insecure work arrangements, and whether they offer training and career development opportunities for their workers.
The ACT government is proud to be a leading jurisdiction for portable long service leave coverage. The ACT’s portable schemes currently cover the building and construction, contract cleaning, community sector and security industries. Long service leave recognises and rewards workers who have stayed with an employer, by providing extended, paid time off to spend with friends and family and pursue outside interests and to rest and rejuvenate. But these benefits are not available to you if you work in an industry where the pattern of work is to move between employers, or your work continuity is interrupted by time off work, such as to care for family members. The ACT government firmly believes that all workers should have the opportunity to access long service leave and that systematic inequalities of the traditional system should be adjusted.
In recognition of this, the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement for the Tenth Legislative Assembly states that the government will amend the portable long service
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