Page 3943 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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took submissions from the public and made a number of detailed recommendations. Further consultation was also conducted nationally by SafeWork Australia.
Following this review, SafeWork Australia commenced the development of the model Work Health and Safety Act. Officers from the Office of Industrial Relations were involved, as were officials from all other jurisdictions—the ACTU, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry—in assisting in the process of drafting the harmonised legislation.
This involved many meetings and teleconferences, and it involved a great deal of good will and give and take. The overall focus of these meetings was to ensure the best possible outcome, with worker safety being at the forefront of all these deliberations. The model bill was endorsed by the workplace relations ministers meeting on 11 December 2009, and I represented the government at that meeting.
The harmonisation of work health and safety laws will bring many benefits to business, employers, workers and unions through the creation of a nationally consistent and modernised scheme. This is particularly important for the territory. Our laws will be consistent with those in New South Wales and the commonwealth, and harmonisation will make the day-to-day operations of businesses operating in those jurisdictions simpler, more transparent and easier to comply with their responsibilities.
When you consider the profile of business and industry in the ACT, it is not only the construction industry that will benefit. It is the transport industry. It is the many small businesses such as accountants, financial advisers and other service industry businesses who will benefit from a national system through reduced complexity and red tape.
It is particularly important to note that Access Economics, in developing a cost-benefit analysis for the model act, noted that the most significant cost to business from the existing OH&S system arises from the duplication required to comply with regulatory offences across multiple jurisdictions. With the implementation of a nationally harmonised system, this duplication will be removed and they will be consistent across the country.
Employers will also benefit from greater certainty and a simplified system of legislation and enforcement. Indeed, I received a letter today from the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry representing a number of those businesses urging this legislation to pass the Assembly in the near future.
Workers will benefit from the enhanced protection provided by modernised laws and rights that are easier to understand and apply. For example, the bill reiterates what was introduced by this government in the Work Safety Act—the recognition of the changing face of the workplace that does not solely rely on traditional concepts of employer and employee.
This means greater fairness, as all workers on a day-to-day basis will have access to the same rigorous system of workplace health and safety regulation wherever they are in Australia and irrespective of whether they are employees, labour hire workers or contractors.
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