Senate crossbench warning to Labor on industrial relations red tape

Key senators warn casual employment and gig economy changes must not add more red tape for small business.

Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock.

Key Senate crossbenchers have declared the government’s changes to casual employment and the gig economy must not add more red tape for small business, as employers prepare to seek new amendments to Labor’s industrial relations bill.

Ahead of the government seeking to pass the second part of its Closing Loopholes Bill from February, Senator Jacqui Lambie said she would spend most of early January going over the workplace law changes “with a fine-tooth comb”.

“My worry with the more complex parts of the legislation is that our economy is fragile, and changes to casualisation and the ‘gig’ economy need to be carefully considered,” Senator Lambie said.

“We have to be cautious we aren’t adding more red tape for small business. I don’t want to make it harder for them. Lots of them are doing it tough, and some are still struggling to get back on their feet after Covid.

“I will be working hard to see if we can reduce red tape for small business and make sure that casual workers are protected.”

ACT independent senator David Pocock said he was “very mindful of the additional impost on small business from added complexity and red tape”.

“We need to make it easier, not harder, to run a small business in Australia,” Senator Pocock said.

“This has been front of mind in my consultations on the legislation. Casual employment clearly has an important place in the industrial landscape. I’ve heard from employees who value the flexibility and higher pay rates, and employers who want to be able to continue to offer this form of employment.

“Equally, though, I’ve heard examples of employees wanting the benefits of permanency but being unable to access it. The parliament’s task is to strike the right balance.”

Workplace Relations Minister Tony Burke struck a surprise deal with senators Lambie and Pocock to split the IR bill, and legislate labour hire changes, new rights for union delegates and the criminalisation of wage theft on parliament’s final sitting day.

The rest of the bill, including casual employment and gig economy changes, will be dealt with from February after a Senate inquiry reports.

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said while employers remained deeply concerned about the changes, “we are maintaining clear lines of communication with the government”.

“Elements of what is currently in the bill before parliament should be abandoned, especially given much of it extends well beyond any changes proposed before the last election,” he said. “There are a raft of sensible and workable amendments that need to be made to avoid unnecessary adverse consequences.”

Mr Willox said employers recognised the government had aspirations “but they need to work with industry, not work against it, if they want to make sure they don’t inadvertently blow up parts of the economy in the meantime”.

ACTU acting secretary Liam O’Brien said casual and gig workers deserved basic rights just like other workers.

“We can’t be the land of the fair go while allowing big business to screw over casual and gig workers by denying them minimum rights,” Mr O’Brien said

“Over the years we’ve seen big business take away the job security of ordinary people by exploiting loopholes in our workplace laws, all while being egged on by the Liberal Party. We now have an opportunity to start fixing the crisis of insecure work and get wages moving by passing the rest of the Closing Loopholes Bill.”

Senator Lambie said the gig economy was less than 20 years old and worth billions of dollars to the national economy.

“For some workers, the gig economy offers flexibility, and that’s a good thing, but we also need to protect these workers and make sure they are paid fairly,” she said. “My concern is that changes to regulation don’t end up capturing businesses the laws weren’t designed for.”

Senator Lambie hit back at a small-business lobby group that criticised the deal between the crossbench and the government, claiming it was struck without consulting employers. In a letter to senators, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia said passage of the changes had been disappointing and “an insult to small businesses”.

Senator Lambie said: “When it came to the impact of part one of Closing Loopholes, we worked closely with COSBOA and got important exemptions for small business, including an assurance the punitive measures of wage theft won’t start until the small business code is complete.

“We also got extra money for the small business ombudsman so small businesses will have lots of help getting up to speed with the new rules on wage theft. I have been surprised and very disappointed the work and care me and my office put in has effectively been thrown back in our face.”