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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 13 Hansard (27 November) . . Page.. 4846 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

Of course there needs to be support for the business community to do the right thing and WorkCover should be resourced appropriately to do that work. There would be outrage in the community and in this Assembly if this argument were applied to any other area of law regarding manslaughter where a person loses their life due to the recklessness or negligence of another person.

What is this really about? Why is a death in a workplace different from a death in another place? Certainly, there is none for the person who is killed or for the people who loved that person. I acknowledge that in the gallery of the Assembly today there are lots of people present who have lost someone that they cared for or know people who were involved with those persons.

There is also, of course, an educative purpose in having a specific crime for industrial manslaughter. As we campaigned to make clear that domestic violence was a crime because there was an underlying community acceptance of it, so we name this crime and send a clear message to irresponsible employers. Responsible employers have nothing to fear from this legislation.

I know that there is a lot of concern in the community about this bill-a lot of confusion in the business community in particular-and I have called on the government to allow three months to elapse before enacting this legislation and to communicate further with the business community about the intent of the legislation. The minister has agreed to this request. I commend this legislation to the Assembly.

MR STANHOPE (Chief Minister, Attorney-General, Minister for Environment and Minister for Community Affairs) (4.32): Mr Speaker, this is important legislation that the government is determined to see introduced. The government recognises that this bill is landmark legislation. It is a key part of our overall strategy to build a more robust system of occupational health and safety in the territory. There are too many workplace deaths-even one is unacceptable-and my government is determined to do all it can to prevent them, from education to a regime of sanctions.

As my colleague the Minister for Industrial Relations, Katy Gallagher, said in introducing the bill, the current law has made it exceedingly difficult to prosecute a company for manslaughter. Employers have a duty to provide a safe workplace and this legislation reinforces that obligation. It is simply not good enough that an employer, a company, can cause the death of a worker through negligence or recklessness and not be held to account simply because of the veil of corporate anonymity. That basic premise is the reason the government has taken this initiative.

The government is not alone in seeking to introduce laws that protect workers by sending the clearest possible message to our community and to employers that avoidable workplace deaths will be dealt with in the strongest possible way. I think it appropriate that we acknowledge the presence in the gallery today of Ms Sue Exner, a tireless campaigner for the introduction of similar laws in New South Wales. Ms Exner is, of course, the mother of Joel, the 16-year-old construction worker so tragically killed in a workplace accident in October this year. Joel's brothers, Brendan and Ashley, are also here, as is his next door neighbour, "Uncle Charlie"Williams, and many of his friends. I pay tribute to the unstinting efforts of, particularly, Ms Exner, her family and colleagues for taking up this cause so forcefully in the midst of their grief.

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