Information about the inquiry
The Senate Employment, Workplace Relations and
Education Legislation Committee gives notice that the Government's
announced package of amendments to the Workplace Relations Act 1996
in the form of the Workplace Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005
is expected to be introduced in the House of Representatives in the week
beginning 31 October. A motion passed by the Senate on 12 October has the
effect of referring these bills, in accordance with the terms of
reference, to the committee at the same time as the bill is introduced in
the House.
Specific terms of reference are not now proposed for
this inquiry, but those interested in making a submission should note the
wording of the motion for the reference of the bill. The wording indicates
the areas of policy which have been covered by previous bills which have
come before the committee, consideration of which will be excluded from
the WorkChoice Bill inquiry. The amended motion for referral is as
follows:
That:
(1) Upon the introduction of the Workplace
Relations Amendment (Work Choices) Bill 2005 in the House of
Representatives, the provisions of the bill be referred to the
Employment, Workplace Relations and Education Legislation Committee
for inquiry and report by 22 November 2005.
(2) The inquiry not
consider those elements of the bill which reflect government bills
previously referred to, examined and reported on by the committee;
namely those elements which relate to secret ballots,
suspension/termination of a bargaining period; pattern bargaining;
cooling off periods; remedies for unprotected industrial action; removal
of section 166A of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the WR Act);
strike pay; reform of unfair dismissal arrangements; right of entry;
award simplification; freedom of association; amendments to section 299
of the WR Act; and civil penalties for officers of organisations
regarding breaches.
The committee will hold up to five days of public
hearings at Parliament House in Canberra in the week commencing 14
November and will report to the Senate on 22 November.
The closing date for submissions to this inquiry will
be 9 November 2005.
Inquiries from hearing and speech impaired people should be directed to the Parliament House TTY number (02) 6277 7799. Adobe also provides tools for the blind and visually impaired to access PDF documents. These tools are available at: http://access.adobe.com/. If you require any special arrangements in order to enable you to participate in a committee inquiry, please contact the committee secretary.
For further information, contact:
Secretary
Senate Standing Committees on Education, Employment and Workplace Relations
PO Box 6100
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Australia