Central Queensland has second-highest rate of casual workers in the country

Central Queensland’s casual work figure is higher than the Australian average of 21.9 per cent and means the region has the second-highest rate of casual work of any region in the country.

An ACTU report says Central Queensland has the second-highest rate of casual work of any region in the country.

Nearly four in 10 Central Queensland workers are in casual work, according to a report released by the Queensland Council of Unions and the ACTU.

The figure is higher than the Australian average of 21.9 per cent and means Central Queensland has the second-highest rate of casual work of any region in the country.

The report revealed the region’s largest employers, such as mining and manufacturing, have been “deliberately replacing permanent jobs with insecure ones”, and points to the agriculture, health care, and retail sectors’ reliance on casual workers.

It said that nowadays, less than half of mine workers are permanently employed, whereas in 1996, “nearly all workers” had permanent jobs.

Those workers, the report said, are on casual or labour hire arrangements earning 30 to 40 per cent less than permanent workers employed directly by mine operators doing the same work, despite the industry making at least $35 billion in profit last year.

The report adds that in manufacturing, many workers are “trapped in rolling fixed term contracts”, that aged care workers are “underpaid and overworked”, and that the meat processing industry has a business model of “employing temporary migrant workers who are typically engaged via labour hire companies on the minimum wage and pressed not to speak out about poor working conditions”.

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus. Photo: Sam Mooy

ACTU Secretary Sally McManus said insecure work was at “crisis level” in Central Queensland.

“These workers are under tremendous financial and emotional stress as insecure work means no regular hours and pay, making it harder to save or plan ahead,” she said.

“Mining, aged care, meat processing and manufacturing are key areas of work in Central Queensland and employers are deliberately replacing permanent jobs with insecure ones.

“This is not only bad for workers, but bad for communities who rely on workers with money in their pockets to spend.

“Casual employment gives all the power to employers, making it difficult for workers to bargain for better pay or rights.”

Ms McManus called on the Federal Government to make it harder for employers to turn permanent work into insecure work by:

• Passing a law ensuring ‘same job same pay’, regardless whether a worker is employed directly or by a labour hire company.
• Making it more difficult for an employer to call workers casual if they’ve done regular hours for years.
• Ensuring that workers in aged care and caring professions get fair pay and hours, and that employers maintain appropriate staffing levels
• Limiting the use of fixed term contracts