FEDERAL LABOR BACKS VICTORIA’S CASUAL SICK LEAVE PLAN

Victoria’s plan to provide sick pay to casual and insecure workers shows real leadership in stark contrast with the inaction of the Morrison Government.

The Andrews Labor Government is stepping up to protect some of our lowest paid and most vulnerable workers.

But Scott Morrison still doesn’t seem to get that insecure work is a problem in Australia.

Once again, the states have been forced to act because Mr Morrison and Christian Porter have failed to do so.

Early in this crisis, Mr Porter made comments suggesting casuals didn’t need paid leave because they had already put money aside in case of a global pandemic: "Many people would have already made provisions for that because of course the purpose of casual employment is that you're paid extra in lieu of entitlements” – Porter, ABC News, 10 March.

Those comments show just how staggeringly out of touch the Morrison Government is when it comes to insecure work.

An estimated 3.7 million Australians - casuals, contractors, freelancers, sole traders and gig economy workers - don’t have any access to paid sick leave or the other protections of permanent employment.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has shown us anything it’s that insecure work is not just a threat to the wellbeing of individuals – it’s a threat to the wellbeing of our society. A high proportion of Australia’s coronavirus infections came from people turning up to work sick.

Workers cannot be forced to choose between paying their bills and protecting their colleagues, customers and patients. Whenever we force people to make that choice the community is put at risk.