Page 4549 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 26 November 2019
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amendment will provide a greater incentive for employers to comply with their levy obligations in a timely way.
Enforcement will also be modernised under the bill. Inspectors will be able to monitor compliance by providing written notice to request and receive information without the need to physically enter a premise. It also enhances the powers given to inspectors to obtain, inspect and copy records. In doing so it will also extend safeguards to those providing information to inspectors by maintaining protections around the use of information in criminal proceedings. These changes will not only make enforcement activities more efficient for inspectors; they will also minimise the disruption to business that would otherwise occur should inspectors be entering a premise to obtain this information.
In addition to these amendments, a new infringement notice scheme will also be introduced under the Magistrates Court Act 2003 to better encourage employer compliance. The bill removes the legislative time frames for which the registrar can credit service for workers who have unrecorded leave. The bill gives the registrar of the Long Service Leave Authority the discretion to credit an unlimited amount of service if the levy can be paid and if satisfied a worker has worked in a covered industry for that period.
This bill will also amend the act to enable unpaid levy amounts to be recovered where phoenixing behaviour is demonstrated. Phoenixing behaviour disadvantages workers. It hurts subcontractors, creditors and employees, as they are left unpaid and out of pocket. The burden of phoenixing behaviour is unfairly borne by those who do comply with their obligations to pay levies to support the entitlements of workers to portable long service leave.
The bill addresses phoenix behaviour by introducing new powers for the authority to recover outstanding debts from the director or directors of a company involved in phoenix activity. Allowing the authority to pursue directors personally will provide a disincentive for this type of behaviour and support other measures that have been introduced by the commonwealth to curb this type of activity.
This bill will also update the terminology used for childcare services which are covered within the community sector industry under the portable leave scheme. In doing so, it aligns the language of the portable schemes legislation with modernised terminology used in the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2011. Specifically, the term “childcare services” will be replaced with “education and care services” as defined in the national education and care law.
Madam Speaker, educators of our children are no longer talked about as childcare workers. These workers play an important role in educating our children. The technical amendments in this bill will keep the scheme in step with current industry practices and acknowledge the important role of these workers as early childhood educators. These amendments do not, however, alter the current coverage of the scheme.
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