LABOR SECURES INQUIRY INTO INSECURE WORK

TONY BURKE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR THE ARTS
MANAGER OF OPPOSITION BUSINESS
MEMBER FOR WATSON
 
SENATOR TONY SHELDON
SENATOR FOR NEW SOUTH WALES
 

Australians in insecure and precarious work will be the focus of a new Senate inquiry established by Labor.

The Senate Select Committee on Job Security will investigate and report on the impact of insecure and precarious work across all sectors of the Australian economy.

The inquiry comes after the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the growing number of Australians who lack secure work, are forced to juggle multiple jobs and are often denied basic protections like minimum wages, sick leave or access to superannuation.

The inquiry also comes after the Morrison Government put forward an industrial relations bill that does nothing to fix the problems of insecure work. It will actually wind back pay and protections for workers whose livelihoods have been hit hard by COVID, and who made sacrifices to help get Australia through the pandemic.

The inquiry will examine the impacts on the aspirations of Australians for income security, housing security and dignity in retirement.

The inquiry also comes amid a spike in home delivery services during the pandemic – services that are needed by the community and which will remain popular.

But the deaths of five food delivery workers in Australia in recent months has exposed the dire impact on safety for workers and the community due to lack of regulation in the gig economy and the denial of worker’s compensation for injury and death.

Shadow Industrial Relations Minister Tony Burke said:

“Some Australians like the flexibility of casual or gig work. But Labor wants to see more people in secure work, with good reliable pay and the highest of safety standards.

Around 3.7 million Australians don’t have access to the rights and protections of permanent employment. Many of them ended up in Centrelink queues across the country earlier this year.

And 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 number of Australia’s coronavirus infections came from people turning up to work sick because they simply couldn’t afford to stay home and lose pay.”

Senator for NSW Tony Sheldon, who will chair the inquiry, said:

“Insecure work is the pandemic that will stay with us – long after the COVID-19 threat has passed. It is not acceptable that an underclass of work has been spawned where workers are denied the basic rights and minimum protections all Australians deserve.

Insecure work is not just found in food delivery and ride share – it is expanding across the economy including the mining, retail, hospitality, health and aged care, university and IT sectors. This inquiry comes at a critical time for our economy and for the future of work.”

The committee will include members of the government, opposition and crossbench. It is expected to commence public hearings early next year with a reporting date of November 2021.