A message from APSCo Australia MD Lesley Horsburgh

One Association or two?

Since the election of the new Government the heat on the labour hire market has certainly turned up a notch and its clear that further reform will impact our industry, but here’s the thing; the term 'labour hire' has become so distinctly associated with high risk, and certainly highly litigious environments I believe it’s well past time to educate our Government about the highly nuanced world that makes up ‘labour hire’ and just why a one size fits all system is clearly not fit for purpose.

Through our new partnership with government relations firm Cornerstone Group, we intend to lobby Government to seek a carve out in legislation that will differentiate white and blue collar workforces and draw clear delineation between professional contracting and the broader casual workforce. We need education, discussion and collaboration, rather than attack, and more fearmongering.

We will commit to a roadmap of activity that will allow us to work with Government and strive for a solution that recognises the myriad of dynamics that make up todays’ modern workforce, rather than a single label that captures businesses by default rather than definition. This strategy holds a mirror to APSCo’s membership profile and clearly defines who we represent and why we are different, - a topic of discussion that has surfaced continually since my appointment as MD almost three years ago, and is sometimes accompanied by “why does our industry need two member associations?”

That’s a question I find unfathomable for many reasons, fundamentally because I believe in choice, I believe choice allows customers to align with a brand that is right for them and their business, not simply because it’s the only one on offer.

I believe choice is intrinsically linked to a point of difference. For APSCo members it’s about belonging to a cohort that essentially operate in the same lane – enabling us to guarantee that everything we offer is relevant.

Our work is certainly cut out for us and we are under no illusion that there will be challenges ahead but our conviction to lift the hood on what labour hire in Australia actually looks like will offer opportunity and ultimately a solution that our Members quite rightly deserve.