Page 5439 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 8 December 2009
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Magistrates Court. In many civil dispute proceedings, enforcement action is required after an ACAT order is made. In law and practice, enforcement action is simply another step in the same application, although, for reasons of convenience, ACAT orders are enforced in the Magistrates Court.
New section 266B provides for continuation of legal representation from the initial hearing in the ACAT to enforcement proceedings in the Magistrates Court. This new section is consistent with the former practice in small claims and residential tenancy matters prior to the commencement of the ACAT.
The bill amends section 45(2) of the Utilities Act 2000, which deals with the determination of annual licence fees for utility companies operating in the ACT. Section 45(2) is amended to require the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission, when determining a utility’s annual licence fee, to consider the costs incurred by ACAT in hearing matters to which a utility is a party. This provision is consistent with former section 45(2), which required consideration of the costs incurred by the former Energy and Water Consumer Council, which has now been incorporated into the ACAT.
In addition to the ACAT amendments contained in this bill, there are a range of amendments to effect the transfer of trustee company regulation from the territory to the commonwealth. I will not go over these details again, and I note that members are supporting these arrangements.
I now turn to the elements of the bill that amend the Security Industry Act 2003 to expand the current suitability criteria and prerequisites for applicants for an employee licence to work in the security industry. Firstly, these amendments simply reinforce existing policy and practice in relation to the provision of workplace information to industry employees. Mr Rattenbury and Mrs Dunne should note that, under the commonwealth Fair Work Act which applies Australia-wide, unions in the ACT can already access workplaces to provide information to employees about their rights and responsibilities at work. This is not compulsory unionism. Indeed, compulsory unionism is illegal under commonwealth statute.
But what is important about this change is that it is particularly difficult for people who work in the security industry to access important information about their rights and entitlements. Often, these employees are working alone, with no-one else supporting them in their workplace. They provide contract services to other organisations. Further, by necessity, they are often working at night, after hours, in circumstances where they are completely isolated in their workplace. Because of this isolation, they are further disadvantaged. They are unable to access emails or have face-to-face discussions with colleagues about workplace information and issues. They are particularly vulnerable workers, low paid and often in transitional employment.
These amendments will ensure that their employee rights under commonwealth law are also extended into ACT law. The amendments will require an applicant for an employee licence to obtain information about their workplace rights and responsibilities before they commence work in the security industry. Prospective employees will already know before they start work about the importance and the
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