Page 1248 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2016
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Madam Speaker, the bill also amends the act to resolve a technical issue by retrospectively clarifying the scope of the building and construction industry scheme and correct minor and typographical issues. Schedule 1 of section 1.2(1) of the act states that building and construction work occurs where there is work in the building and construction industry and this work is covered by a prescribed award.
Examination of the scope of the construction industry’s portable long service leave scheme has revealed that in the current and evolving industrial relations environment, modern awards are decreasing in relevance as more industries rely on other forms of industrial agreements to cover their obligations to their workers under the national workplace relations framework. To prescribe certain awards for the purpose of the act would inadvertently exclude an increasing amount of workers from the portable long service leave entitlement.
The bill modifies the test of what is building and construction work to exclude prescribed awards and, in order to ensure the integrity of a worker’s entitlements, it will be applied retrospectively. This amendment will neither expand nor contract the coverage of the scheme. The corrected scheme will continue to capture employers and workers currently regulated by the authority.
The final amendment to the bill provides for the correction of a minor typographical error to a title of a section in schedule 4 of the act.
In relation to the aged-care extension, my office and officials have consulted with affected employers and the applicable employer peak bodies, including: the Aged and Community Services Australia Group, Leading Age Services Australia, the Aged Care Guild, Goodwin Aged Care Services and Bupa Aged Care. In relation to the contract waste worker extension, consultation has taken place with the Waste Contractors and Recyclers Association of New South Wales, Remondis, and Suez Environment.
Consultation has also taken place with peak industry bodies, including the Canberra Business Chamber and the ACT Council of Social Services. The ACT Council of Social Services strongly supports the extension, while the chamber opposes it on the basis of added cost to business. As well as employers and employer organisations, consultation has taken place with unions including the Transport Workers Union, the Health Services Union, United Voice and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation.
With the exception of Remondis, all employers oppose the reforms, primarily on the basis of cost and administrative burden, whilst employee representatives support the extensions because they feel it will provide better entitlements for vulnerable workers and create new equity within industries that have more stable employment patterns. While I acknowledge that this measure may have some financial impact on employers, this will be partially offset as employers will no longer be required to make provision for long service leave under the Long Service Leave Act 1976. Further, based on written and verbal submissions received from stakeholders, it is anticipated the offset will be approximately 30 per cent for the aged-care sector and as high as 50 per cent for the waste management sector.
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