Page 4276 - Week 11 - Thursday, 25 October 2018
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Government Procurement (Secure Local Jobs) Amendment Regulation 2018. They include engineering, architectural and surveying services.
As Ms Orr noted in her speech, industry consultation has identified that professional services of this nature may unintentionally be made subject to the new arrangements if they are provided in support of a construction contract. The government amendment addresses this by amending the definition of “construction” so that it explicitly excludes those classes of professional service currently listed in the draft regulation.
The third minor and technical amendment removes an unnecessary reference to the Legislation Act in relation to the notification of ANSZIC.
In addition to the members of the committee on economic development and the individuals and organisations who have been involved in the development of the bill, I would like to acknowledge the extensive consultation with stakeholders and to state, contrary to the comments of those opposite, that all input has been carefully considered by the government. This includes both employer and employee representatives, and I acknowledge the tireless efforts of all of those organisations, particularly the union movement, in representing the interests of their members.
As I said at the beginning, submissions to the committee inquiry were generally supportive of the government’s intention to direct its business to companies that comply with their legal responsibilities and look after the welfare of their workers.
Members may be aware that some concerns were raised about possible duplication of legal obligations, and there was a concern that difficulties may be experienced by contractors who are subject to both ACT government requirements and the commonwealth government’s code for the tendering and performance of building work. This was a matter raised by Mr Wall.
The government does not seek to disqualify contractors from competing for territory-funded work due to the fact that the current commonwealth procurement laws may operate differently from the ACT’s, and it is for this reason that the bill does include a provision that allows the registrar to exempt contractors from any aspect of the secure local jobs requirement that would put a contractor in conflict with a commonwealth law in force in the territory. I acknowledge, as Mr Wall has said, that we have received some advice from the commonwealth and we are of course considering that advice.
In respect of concerns that requiring compliance with existing workplace relation laws will result in duplication and unnecessary complexity for employers, it is important to clarify that the bill will establish a regime to assist the territory to actively verify that its own tenderers and contractors, those that it chooses to engage with, comply with workplace obligations. This is desirable from a social perspective and it is appropriate for due diligence purposes. Enshrining the system in legislation provides transparency and appeal rights which have been welcomed by industry submissions.
Too often we have seen employers exploiting their workers and avoiding their responsibilities. This is not just unfair to workers, it is unfair to other businesses that
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