If passed, the Bill will make numerous amendments to the Fair Work Act 2009 (FW Act) and related legislation. The government says its aims are to get wages moving, boost job security, address gender inequity, and restore integrity and fairness to Fair Work institutions.
In a series of updates, we will summarise key features of the Bill. This update gives an overview of the proposed amendments and summarises the Government’s proposal to abolish the Australian Building Construction Commission (ABCC) and Registered Organisations Commission (ROC).
Overview
The Bill would amend the FW Act and related legislation by:
- abolishing the ABCC;
- making the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO) the regulator for the building and construction industry;
- abolishing the ROC and transferring its functions to the General Manager of the Fair Work Commission (FWC);
- simplifying the better off overall test;
- simplifying approval requirements for single enterprise agreements;
- removing some limitations on accessing low-paid bargaining (which will be re-named supported bargaining) and providing simpler ways for workers in a range of industries (including community care services) to negotiate pay deals across multiple employers;
- creating pathways for FWC bargaining assistance (including arbitrating disputes);
- introducing a bargaining stream that allows for voluntary participation and no access to industrial action;
- changing the process for agreement terminations;
- establishing procedures to cancel agreements that pre-date the FW Act;
- making job security and gender equity objects of the FW Act – with additional changes limiting the use of fixed term contracts, introducing a statutory equal remuneration principle, and prohibiting pay secrecy clauses;
- increasing access to flexible working arrangements under the NES;
- limiting rolling fixed term employment contracts;
- strengthening protections for victims of sexual harassment; and
- increasing the cap on small claims (from $20,000 to $100,000) so that more employees have access to the small claims procedure to recover employment entitlements.
Abolishing the ABCC and ROC
The Bill fulfils one of the Government’s election promises to abolish the ABCC and ROC, while giving the FWC new enforcement powers for the regulation of registered organisations.
Parts of the Building and Construction Industry (Improving Productivity) Act 2016 (BCIIP Act) and the Code for the Tendering and Performance of Building Work 2016 (Code) will be repealed if the Bill is passed. Specifically, the Bill will:
- repeal the parts of the BCIIP Act relating to the ABCC and the Code;
- remove provisions providing higher penalties for building industry participants and broader circumstances under which penalties may apply;
- provide transitional arrangements for the abolition of the ABCC, including to transition pending court proceedings to the FWO;
- make consequential amendments required as a result of the amendments to the BCIIP Act; and
- retain provisions relating to the Work Health and Safety Accreditation Scheme and Office of the Federal Safety Commissioner in a renamed act.
The Bill will also amend the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 to repeal the provisions that establish the ROC, replace the remaining references to the Registered Organisations Commissioner with references to the General Manager of the FWC or the FWC, and trigger standard provisions for the infringement notice and enforceable undertakings schemes under the Regulatory Powers (Standard Provisions) Act 2014. The Bill will also provide for appropriate transitional arrangements for the transfer of functions from the ABCC and ROC to the FWC.
Get in touch
Please contact our Workplace Relations Team if you would like more information.
