Page 4106 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 20 September 2011
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Clause 160 agreed to.
Clauses 161 to 170, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 171 agreed to.
Clause 173 agreed to.
Clauses 174 to 222, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 223 agreed to.
Clauses 224 to 229, by leave, taken together and agreed to.
Clause 230.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (5.27): I move amendment No 5 circulated in my name [see schedule 2 at page 4126].
The amendment I am proposing would reinstate the statutory right for unions and employer organisations to bring prosecutions for work health and safety offences in the ACT. One of the consequences of this proposed harmonisation is the loss of this right. The Greens believe it is an important right and one that should stay.
The right was originally introduced into the ACT law in 2008 through the government’s Work Safety Act. At the time, the government said that the act introduced a modern set of work safety laws that reflects the realities of working and doing business in the territory. The government said that the new act addressed the deficiencies in the current act and presented a modern regime intent on securing work safety for all workers while not hampering business.
The statutory right for union prosecutions was a part of that modern regime. Unfortunately, the proposal is now to remove the statutory right for unions and employer organisations to bring prosecutions for work health and safety offences. We think that is a step backwards. I have talked in the Assembly before about the importance of the private prosecution right. I pointed out that on average in Australia one worker is killed a week in the construction industry. Making prosecutions harder is likely to result in less prosecution and less pressure on employers to deliver safe workplaces.
I also gave the example of the union prosecutions being effective in New South Wales. There, the Finance Sector Union took successful court action which forced the major banks to invest approximately $100 million in improving safety standards. The result has been a dramatic fall in armed robberies—from 102 in 2002 to just four last year. I want to quote Mr Fetter from the Australian Council of Trade Unions, who told the federal Senate committee why this right should be retained. He said:
There is always the concern that that body—
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