The federal government will outline its response to a royal commission report into Australia's building industry which found it was wracked by intimidation and illegal strikes.
In a report tabled in parliament, Royal Commissioner Terence Cole recommended 31 people face criminal charges, 23 of them believed to be union officials.
He detailed 392 instances of unlawful activity by individuals, unions and employers.
Workplace Relations Minister Tony Abbott will outline his response to the commission findings when the last part of the report is tabled.
But Mr Abbott played down the prospect of deregistering the powerful Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU).
Instead, he hinted a new policing body may be set up to stamp out illegal activities on building sites.
"Experience shows that deregistration of the Builders Labourers' Federation (in the 1980s) was, in the end, largely ineffective," he said.
"Most of the key figures in the BLF have eventually re-emerged in the CFMEU."
The commission findings outraged CFMEU officials and brought claims of bias from Labor.
Western Australia featured strongly in the report, with Commissioner Cole finding 230 instances of unlawful conduct and that fear, intimidation and coercion were rife in the state industry.
Victoria had 58 such findings against it and there was widespread illegal industrial action, the report found.
Queensland, with 55 findings, showed no convincing levels of true enterprise bargaining and NSW, with 25 findings, was a state where the rule of law had been replaced by commercial expediency and industrial pressure.
Mr Abbott said the main problem with previous attempts to clean up the industry was that a permanent authority had not been set up.