Editorial

ALP offers some hope on insecure work

Alison Barnes, National President

As we move into 2021 in a new ‘COVID-normal’ environment and we all struggle with periodic lockdowns, restrictions on gatherings and no guarantees that campuses will be open all year, a new battle is looming over the Morrison Government’s proposed industrial relations changes through the 'Omnibus' Bill that was announced at the end of last year.

The people teaching our current students and developing the skills and knowledge that will benefit all of Australian society, are mostly employed either as casuals or on fixed-term employment, with no job security and no access to leave...

The ALP and Greens will oppose the changes in Parliament, with the legislation’s fate likely to be in the hands of the five crossbench Senators. Anthony Albanese sharpened the debate when he announced on 10 February that a future ALP government will address some of the worst aspects of insecure work. The very welcome commitments include:

• To legislate for portable annual and sick leave entitlements for insecurely employed staff.

• A cap on fixed-term contracts.

• That labour hire workers be paid the same as ongoing co-workers.

• To create a fair test based on the nature of the work to determine whether a worker can be classified as a casual.

While many commentators, and one State Premier, have sheeted much of the blame for repeated COVID outbreaks to the prevalence of insecure employment, the Government’s proposed new laws will likely lead to an increase in casual work.

This would include enabling employers to simply deem a worker as a casual, regardless of the nature of the work performed. While the Bill proposes a nominally improved conversion to ongoing employment clause, it is not automatic and any employer can refuse an application on as yet to be defined 'reasonable grounds'.

Seventy per cent of higher education staff are employed insecurely. The people teaching our current students and developing the skills and knowledge that will benefit all of Australian society, are mostly employed either as casuals or on fixed-term employment, with no job security and no access to leave entitlements and other fundamental working rights enjoyed by securely employed staff.

NTEU hopes to further address these pressing issues in the upcoming enterprise bargaining round, and welcomes the ALP’s commitments.

We have an opportunity to engage directly with some key politicians around these issues, with an online seminar planned for 19 March with Senators Tony Sheldon (ALP) and Dr Mehreen Faruqi (Greens). Further details will be circulated when they are finalised.

Welcome to 2021!