The Albanese government’s labour hire laws are much broader than it has represented and will cover specialist service contractors, potentially even extending to legal, accounting and IT service providers, a top workplace law expert has confirmed.

University of Adelaide professor Andrew Stewart, who helped Labor draft the original Fair Work Act, has warned there is a “major flaw” in the Closing Loopholes Bill’s rules for labour hire workers that would dramatically expand its coverage, and he would be pushing the government for changes.