The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has commenced a consultation process associated with the development of the Australian Government’s third tranche of changes to Australia’s workplace relations laws. The proposed changes will likely be introduced in Parliament in the second half of the year and relate to the following matters:

• Amendments to casual employment.
• Implementation of the Government’s ‘Same job, same pay’ policy.
• Criminalising wage theft.
• Extending the powers of the FWC to include ‘employee-like’ forms of work.
• Giving workers the right to challenge unfair contractual terms.
• Allowing the FWC to set minimum standards to ensure the road transport industry is safe, sustainable and viable.
• Providing stronger protections against discrimination, adverse action and harassment.
• Introducing a single national framework for labour hire regulation, which could be implemented in place of existing state and territory schemes.
• Addressing the impact of the small business redundancy exemption in winding up scenarios to support equitable outcomes for claimants under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee.
• Reforms to strengthen enterprise bargaining and close loopholes, namely:

1. The FWC issuing model terms for enterprise agreements.
2. Preserve arrangements for employers already using single interest agreements.

• Repeal demerger from registered organisations amalgamation provisions.

Ai Group is engaging with the Department in relation to the development of such measures. As part of this process, we filed a preliminary submission in April addressing a number of the areas that will be the subject of proposed changes. Ai Group is preparing a detailed submission to be provided to the Department on 12 May 2023.