Category Archives: Industrial relations

Essential workers unable to afford to rent alone almost anywhere in Australia, report shows

Posted on by

Aged care workers in capital cities would have to spend 77% of their pay on housing to pay the average rent of $572 a week

Soaring rents have made living alone impossible for Australia’s essential workers: new research shows some would have to spend around two-thirds of their income to afford a place on their own.

Comparing the average weekly unit rents against award wages for 15 essential jobs, the national housing campaign Everybody’s Home found there were virtually no regions of Australia where a single full-time essential worker, such as those in aged care, early childhood or nursing, could afford to rent by themselves.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

State treasurers propose targeting men to work in care sector to boost productivity

Posted on by

Board of treasurers’ submission to employment white paper taskforce suggests making training flexible and promoting regional jobs

Targeting men to work in the child, aged and disability care sectors is one idea proposed by the state treasurers to boost productivity, challenge gender stereotypes and address workforce shortages.

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will release more than 400 submissions made to the employment white paper taskforce on Saturday.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Addressing gender stereotypes, workforce shortages and productivity in the care sector by targeting mid-career men for retraining and upskilling.

Making training for the job you want (as opposed to the job you have) tax deductible.

Providing incentives for employers to hire employees from underrepresented cohorts.

Creating pathways for First Nations people to work on major regional projects.

Exploring incentives for university graduates and highly skilled migrants to work in regional areas.

Continue reading...

Laura Tingle becomes ABC staff-elected director – as it happened

Posted on by

The 7.30 political correspondent will sit on the broadcaster’s board alongside chair Ita Buttrose. This blog is now closed

Report of new gas tax for Australia

The Australian Financial Review is this morning reporting that a new gas tax looms as the government tries to raise revenue to begin budget repair.

Major companies such as Woodside Energy, Santos and Shell and their tax advisers have signed confidentiality agreements with Treasury on the PRRT consultation.

Since Treasury resumed the stalled work for Labor late last year, it has cast the net wider to probe other PRRT areas, such as deductions, in an attempt to raise revenue sooner for the government from the profits-based tax.

Continue reading...

‘Simply about survival’: ACTU calls for 7% pay rise for lowest-paid workers to keep pace with inflation

Posted on by

Minimum hourly rate would rise to $22.88 – or $45,337 a year – if the Fair Work Commission grants the increase

Australian unions have called for a pay rise of 7% for the lowest-paid workers, a raise in the national minimum wage of $1.50 an hour to keep pace with inflation.

The Australian Council of Trade Unions made that submission to the Fair Work Commission’s annual minimum wage review, which sets the pay of more than 2.6 million employees on the national minimum or award wages.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Women earn $1m less than men over lifetime and retire with $136,000 less super, study finds

Posted on by

Research adds to growing calls to pay more parental leave and for superannuation on paid parental leave

Women in Australia earn $1m less on average over their lifetimes than men and retire with $136,000 less in superannuation, according to research released on International Women’s Day.

The research by the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, released on Wednesday, suggests that the biggest driver of the gap in retirement savings is still the gender pay gap.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australian universities advised to avoid being ‘roped into’ multi-employer bargaining, leaked strategy reveals

Posted on by

Union calls document ‘incontrovertible proof’ institutions using ‘concerted’ plan to drive down wages

Universities are being advised how to avoid being “roped into” multi-employer bargaining for better wages and pay conditions, a leaked roadmap has revealed.

The strategy roadmap written by the Australian Higher Education Industrial Association, which represents more than 32 tertiary institutions, gives advice to universities about three enterprise agreement scenarios under Labor’s multi-employer bargaining reforms, which will come into effect in June.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia moves to fast-track ban on silica stone benchtops that cause fatal lung disease

Posted on by

Federal government hopes to draft ban to combat silicosis by end of year with support from states and territories

Australia has taken a major step towards a world-first total ban on engineered stone products in response to rising rates of silicosis from dry-cutting silica products commonly used in kitchen and bathroom benches.

On Tuesday the work health and safety ministers of all states and territories are expected to agree to Safe Work Australia preparing a plan to ban the products.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

NSW teachers should have a 25% pay bump in coming years, research suggests

Posted on by

Exclusive: University of Sydney report says pay has gone ‘from bad to worse’ as cost-of-living pressures rise

Wages for New South Wales school teachers should be up to 25% higher before the end of the decade to counter long-term wage suppression and inflation, according to researchers from the University of Sydney who found educators were among the worst-paid professions.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Federal government to intervene in transport union’s high court fight against Qantas

Posted on by

Tony Burke to appear in court as airline seeks to overturn November decision which found it illegally outsourced ground staff jobs

The federal government will join the Transport Workers’ Union’s (TWU) high court fight with Qantas as the airline bids to overturn a ruling that it illegally outsourced 1,700 ground handlers’ jobs.

The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, filed a notice of appearance on 16 January to intervene in the case, in which Qantas hopes to overturn a full federal court decision exposing it to a mammoth compensation bill for laying off staff at 10 airports in November 2020.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Australia news live: interest rates tipped to rise next week; airport strike planned for next Friday called off

Posted on by

Speaking on a panel of central bankers on Friday, Philip Lowe said it was possible to execute a soft landing for the economy. Follow live

Rishworth defends superannuation stance

There are still calls on the government to add superannuation payments to paid parental leave. Rishworth is asked if it’s something the government is committed to looking at in this term of parliament:

We’ve set up the women’s economic equality taskforce to look at a range of issues. Along with our childcare changes and our paid parental leave, we have really put women’s economic participation front and centre of this government, as a priority.

I think this is disingenuous by the opposition leader, there is plenty of detail of what a model would look like.

His party is clearly divided. He needs to be a leader when it comes to this.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Dodson ‘taken aback’ by Nationals’ call on Indigenous voice but doesn’t see it as a setback

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

Coalition is alienating young voters, PM says

Over on ABC radio Melbourne, Anthony Albanese has been asked what he thinks about the Victorian election and the lessons for the Liberal party.

One of the things that we’re seeing, I believe is an alienation from younger voters from the Coalition.

When you have a position where you have senior members of the Coalition [who] can’t say that climate change is real in spite of the floods and bushfires and all of the evidence of the heating of the planet that we’re seeing, let alone any time something is put up to take action on climate change. They dismiss it.

[It] depends where you work. There will be some businesses, for example, which refuse to bargain with their staff where they used to and their staff where they used to and the better-off-overall test became too complex. Getting rid of the red tape we got there will bring some of the businesses back to the table straight away.

Also, any businesses that are concerned, like ... that actually don’t want to be involved in multi-employer bargaining, the simple fix for them is for them to negotiate with their staff now.

Continue reading...

NSW government announces deal with rail union in bid to end industrial dispute

Posted on by

Dominic Perrottet says the two sides agreed to a Fair Work Commission process to resolve long-running fight

The New South Wales government says it has carved out a deal with the state’s rail union to modify a fleet of trains and halt industrial action, after months of bitter negotiation.

The parties had been at odds over whether or not to make safety modifications to a multibillion-dollar Korean-built fleet of intercity trains, which have been in storage since 2019.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

Dutton given official warning by Speaker – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

How can strengthening federal laws stop the destruction of sacred heritage sites?

Tanya Plibersek:

I think I think it’s really worth having a look at the two inquiries that the the parliament undertook into the Juukan Gorge destruction because it describes not just the failure of laws, but the failure of process and the failure of people to listen and that happened at the commonwealth level and it also happened at the West Australian state government level.

The other thing that it describes is a company that paid lip service to consultation and really, you know, really didn’t do what it should have done when Aboriginal people said you can’t blow up caves that are 46,000 years old, that have examples of continuous use and habitation that you know, the site of finds like a 4,000-year-old hair belt, and tools that are tens of thousands of years old.

There’s absolutely a sense of urgency to ensure that this sort of cultural heritage destruction doesn’t happen again.

I completely agree with that, but a very strong message from the the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance is also that they genuinely want to sit at the table to work through these issues in partnership and cooperation.

Yeah, I’m not going to put I’m not going to put a timeline on it yet. I think that’s something that we determined as we work through the complexity of these issues, and there are a lot of complexities involved.

Continue reading...

Labor fast-tracks territory rights vote to increase chance of passing workplace laws this year

Posted on by

Crossbench senator David Pocock says the two extra sitting days approved by the Senate to pass legislation is ‘a start’ but more time is needed

The Albanese government has fast-tracked a final vote on the territory rights bill in a bid to shore up its chances of passing industrial relations law changes this year.

The Senate has approved a plan for two extra sitting days this Friday and next and a final conscience vote on the bill to restore territories’ ability to legalise voluntary assisted dying on Thursday 1 December – a key demand of crossbench senator David Pocock.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: Albanese accuses Dutton of ‘dog-whistling’ over Cop27 climate damage fund

Posted on by

Follow the day’s news live

Buy now, pay later review has been coming for a while

The last time the issue was examined, under the previous government, it was decided the industry could regulate itself.

Continue reading...

Parliament might need ‘extra time’ to meet election pledges, PM says

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese open to extending the sitting calendar to debate bills on industrial relations and an anti-corruption commission

Federal parliament’s sitting calendar may be extended beyond its scheduled Christmas break next week, as the government hopes to pass a raft of complex legislation and fulfil election promises before the end of the year.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has conceded the Senate may need “extra time” to consider his contentious industrial relations bill, with the government still needing to woo crossbench senators to pass the workplace legislation.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...

News live updates: Medibank, Optus among companies shunning privacy law hearing in ‘collective failure of corporate Australia’

Posted on by

Greens senator David Shoebridge has criticised notable absences at a Senate committee looking at privacy laws today. Follow the day’s news live

ADF personnel to help in NSW as government works on dedicated disaster workforce

Murray Watt is asked about a permanent disaster workforce to assist during national disasters and their clean-up, given the pressure put on the defence force.

The ADF does certainly play a role, particularly in the recovery phase. And just yesterday we activated more defence forces to go into western New South Wales to assist so over the next couple of days, we expect to see 200 defence force personnel helping there to top up these state-based services. But the reality is all of this is putting a huge amount of pressure, whether it be on those state-based services or the ADF. And that’s why in this budget, we committed over $30m to a volunteer veteran organisation called Disaster Relief Australia to sort of top up the kind of services that are available for communities, particularly in that clean-up phase.

But we’re going to be keeping on doing some work on this about what we need to put in place as a country to supplement the ADF and I’d be hopeful that we might be able to bring that to a conclusion around about the budget next year.

There’s insurance costs so let alone the huge damage bill that individuals are going to be incurring themselves.

So I think everyone is unfortunately going to be having to put their hands in their pockets for for this unfolding event that just won’t go away.

So even if we weren’t to get any more rain, we’re going to be looking at even more damage from the existing flood waters. And, as I say, I think we’re likely to see more. We’ve also got to remember that we haven’t yet seen the cyclone season start whether that be in north Queensland, Western Australia or Northern Territory. So unfortunately I haven’t got a lot of good news for people except for the fact that there is unlikely to be a lot of rain over the next couple of days. So that’s a good thing.

Continue reading...

Australia news live: Medibank hacker demands ‘US$1 per customer’ ransom; ‘rotten egg gas’ problem in navy patrol boats

Posted on by

Defence officials say there is an issue with hydrogen sulphide in the vessels’ waste systems. Follow the day’s news live

Coalition’s staff cap has fuelled lack of payment integrity, Shorten says

Bill Shorten goes on to criticise the NDIS staff cap implemented by the Coalition government:

When there were 180,000 participants in the scheme, the staff numbers were around 3,500 to 4,000. And the government of the day said, ‘OK, no more staff.’

Now the scheme has half a million people-plus, and what’s happened is that we’ve brought in contractors or labour hire or partners in the community and the scheme hasn’t been well, in my opinion, supervised and well loved.

I don’t blame someone for seeking to get support for the child. What does make me wonder is the state school systems providing the support for kids with developmental and learning delays? Are they doing enough or not? How can you force their hand to do it so that these people aren’t going on the NDIS?

Originally, when the NDIS was created, it was to be a 50/50 split, at the moment the federal government is paying 64% to 66% of the scheme and states are paying in the mid 30s.

Continue reading...

Australia politics live: $591m cost of cancelling French submarines revealed in Senate estimates; Bob Brown charged with trespass

Posted on by

Tony Burke is also being quite conciliatory about David Pocock’s concerns about the bill.

Asked by Patricia Karvelas if he is prepared to make more amendments to the IR bill, Tony Burke says that is standard after a senate inquiry process.

I suspect there’ll be more to come.

Continue reading...

Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock oppose Labor ‘rushing through’ workplace bill

Posted on by

Albanese government has agreed amendments to get business on board but independent senators won’t be bullied into passing omnibus legislation

The Albanese government is ratcheting up pressure on Senate crossbenchers to support its contentious industrial relations legislation after Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock signalled concessions to employers were not enough to expedite the bill’s passage.

Labor used the resumption of federal parliament on Monday to welcome last week’s 15% pay rise for aged care workers and declare that other workers battling escalating cost-of-living pressures needed industrial regulations that worked in their interests, given inflation was now forecast to peak at 8%.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup

Continue reading...