CHAPTER 1
Introduction
Terms of reference
1.1
On 28 November 2012 the Senate referred the following matter to the
Senate Education, Employment and Workplace Relations References Committee for
inquiry and report by 17 June 2013:
The conditions of employment of state public sector employees
and the adequacy of protection of their rights at work as compared with other
employees, including:
(i) whether:
(A) the current state
government industrial relations legislation provides state public sector
workers with less protection and entitlements than workers to whom the Fair
Work Act 2009 (the Act) applies,
(B) the removal of
components of the long-held principles relating to termination, change and
redundancy from state legislation is a breach of obligations under the
International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions ratified by Australia,
(C) the rendering
unenforceable of elements of existing collective agreements relating to
employment security is a breach of the obligations under the ILO conventions
ratified by Australia relating to collective bargaining,
(D) the current state
government industrial relations frameworks provide protection to workers as
required under the ILO conventions ratified by Australia,
(E) state public
sector workers face particular difficulties in bargaining under state or
federal legislation, and
(F) the Act
provides the same protections to state public sector workers as it does to
other workers to the extent possible, within the scope of the Commonwealth’s
legislative powers; and
(ii) noting
the scope of states’ referrals of power to support the Act, what legislative or
regulatory options are available to the Commonwealth to ensure that all
Australian workers, including those in state public sectors, have adequate and
equal protection of their rights at work.[1]
Conduct of the inquiry
1.2
Notice of the inquiry was posted on the committee's website and
advertised in The Australian newspaper, calling for submissions by 15
February 2013. The committee also notified a number of stakeholders of the
inquiry and invited submissions. The committee received a total of 39
submissions, as listed at Appendix 1. A number of submissions were
redacted prior to publication to protect personal details.
Acknowledgements
1.3
The committee thanks the individuals and organisations who contributed
to this inquiry by making submissions.
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