Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Youth Employment) Bill 1998

Introduction

The Committee dealt with this bill in Alert Digest No 10 of 1998, in which it made various comments. The Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business has responded to those comments in a letter dated 19 January 1999. A copy of the letter is attached to this report. An extract from the Alert Digest and relevant parts of the Minister's response are discussed below.

Extract from Alert Digest No. 11 of 1998

This bill was introduced into the House of Representatives on 26 November 1998 by the Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business. [Portfolio responsibility: Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business]

The bill proposes to amend the following Acts:

• Workplace Relations Act 1996 to:
• include in the principal object of the Act and the objects of Part VI of the Act the protection of the competitive position of young people in the labour market, the promotion of youth employment and the reduction of youth unemployment;
• permanently exempt junior rates of pay from the provisions of the Act intended to prevent and eliminate age discrimination in awards and agreements; and
• promote the inclusion of junior rates of pay in awards and agreements; and
• Workplace Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Act 1996 to:
• permanently exempt junior rates of pay from the provisions of the Act intended to prevent and eliminate age discrimination in awards; and
• promote the inclusion of junior rates of pay in awards.

General comment

Schedule 1, item 4

Item 4 of Schedule 1 to the bill provides, in part, that “junior wage provisions are not to be treated as constituting discrimination by reason of age”. In general terms, this amendment simply recognises a state of affairs that has continued for a considerable period of time, and it may have been included in the bill to avoid conflict with the provisions of other legislation. Nevertheless, the Committee recognises that there are some who may regard such a provision as trespassing on personal rights and liberties, and the reason for its inclusion in the bill is not clear to the Committee.

Accordingly, the Committee seeks the advice of the Minister on the reason for including this provision in the bill.

Pending the Minister's advice, the Committee draws Senators' attention to the provision, as it may be considered to trespass unduly on personal rights and liberties, in breach of principle 1(a)(i) of the Committee's terms of reference.

Relevant extract from the response from the Minister

This item amends section 88B of the Workplace Relations Act 1996 (the Act) to provide that, for the purposes of paragraph 88B(3)(e) of the Act, junior wage provisions are not to be treated as constituting discrimination by reason of age.

Paragraph 88B(3)(e) states that the Australian Industrial Relations commission, in performing its award-making functions, must have regard to `…the need to prevent and eliminate discrimination because of, or for reasons including, race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin.'

The proposed amendment is to make clear that, in the context of the requirement on the Commission to have regard to the need to prevent and eliminate discrimination on the basis of the matters set out in subsection 88B(3)(e), junior rates of pay do not constitute discrimination on the basis of age.

The Bill does not seek to exempt junior wage provisions in awards from anti-discrimination law generally, or to prevent a party from seeking a remedy under such laws. It seeks only to ensure that junior wage provisions in awards do not constitute discrimination for the purposes of the Workplace Relations Act 1996. The Bill reflects the importance of junior rates of pay in creating employment opportunities for young people. The removal of junior rates would severely damage the youth labour market, and would be likely to result in many young people experiencing protracted unemployment, with potentially permanently damaged prospects for labour force integration.

In the context of Australia's international obligations, it is relevant to note that the achievement of full employment is an important principle underpinning the work of the International Labour Organisation.

Thank you for bringing the Committee's concerns to my attention.

The Committee thanks the Minister for this response.

Barney Cooney

Chairman