The Standing Committee on Education, Employment and Youth Affairs shall consider the following matters:

1.        The extent, nature and consequence of insecure work in the ACT, including but not limited to:

i.         the use of group training, labour hire and sham contracting in particular industries and in the supply chains of particular sectors;

ii.        allegations that labour hire and sham contracting arrangements are being used to avoid workplace laws and other statutory obligations, such as underpayment of wages and entitlements and avoidance of payroll and income tax;

iii.        allegations of exploitation, harassment and other mistreatment of workers employed by group training organisations and labour hire companies;

iv.       the use of working visas, particularly in insecure, low paid, unskilled or semi-skilled jobs and trades;

v.        allegations related to the exploitation of vulnerable classes of workers including working visa holders, young people, the under-employed and migrants;

vi.       the impact of insecure work on workers, their families and relationships, and on the local community, including financial and housing stress; and

vii.       the impact of insecure work arrangements on vulnerable workers including young people, the unemployed and under-employed, migrants and short term visa holders.

2.        The nature and consequence of insecure work arrangements in the ACT, including but not limited to:

i.         the legal rights and obligations of group training organisations, labour hire companies, host organisations and employees, along with any ambiguity that exists between these entities;

ii.        the effectiveness of existing industrial relations laws and instruments and their enforcement in the group training and labour hire industries, including occupational health and safety laws and workers’ compensation laws;

iii.        the impact of poor practices, including but not limited to workplace health and safety practices, in group training, labour hire and other insecure employment arrangements on competing businesses; and

iv.       the impact on long-term workforce needs of replacing permanent employees, apprentices and trainees with casualised labour hire workers.

3.        In making recommendations, the Inquiry should have regard to matters including:

i.         the limits on the ACT Government’s legislative and regulatory powers in relation to industrial relations and related matters;

ii.        the extent to which the ACT Government’s tendering and procurement arrangements are and could be used to encourage best practice in industries where insecure work arrangements have become common;

iii.        regulation in other Australian jurisdictions and in other countries, including how other jurisdictions regulate group training and labour hire;

iv.       regulatory mechanisms to meet the objective of protecting the rights of vulnerable workers, and the potential impact of any regulatory regime on ACT businesses;

v.        the powers of the Commonwealth as they extend to work visas;

vi.       the ability of any ACT regulatory arrangements to operate effectively in the absence of a national approach; and

vii.       Australia's obligations under international law, including International Human Rights Conventions and International Labour Organisation Conventions.

Description	PDF	Word
Terms of reference	PDF (62.8 KB)	Word (19.7 KB)

The Committee is currently receiving public submissions. You can make a submission before 30 June 2017. Submissions can be sent to committees@parliament.act.gov.au.

Please note that submissions will be made publically available, unless otherwise indicated. For any other information, please contact the Committee Secretary.

Description	PDF	Word
Submission 39 - David Allen	PDF (151.5 KB)
Submission 38 - National Tertiary Education Union (ACT Division)	PDF (499.2 KB)
Submission 37 - Connor Drum	PDF (653.6 KB)
Submission 36 - anonymous	PDF (528.1 KB)
Submission 35 - United Voice	PDF (1.2 MB)
Submission 34 - UnionsACT	PDF (5.0 MB)
Submission 34b - Unions ACT	PDF (524.2 KB)
Submission 33 - Construction, Forestry and Mining and Energy Union	PDF (963.5 KB)
Submission 32 - Bradley Bell	PDF (191.4 KB)
Submission 31 - James Costin	PDF (679.4 KB)
Submission 30 - Bruce Stephenson	PDF (982.0 KB)
Submission 29 - Robert Easterbrook	PDF (189.0 KB)
Submission 28 - Linda Mitchell	PDF (554.4 KB)
Submission 27 - Charles Campbell Macknight	PDF (719.9 KB)
Submission 26 - Tracey Yurtbilir	PDF (171.9 KB)
Submission 25 - Beck Edwards	PDF (160.5 KB)
Submission 24 - Abigail Nelson	PDF (169.7 KB)
Submission 23 - ACT Government - updated	PDF (555.9 KB)
Submission 22 - Ai Group	PDF (542.2 KB)
Submission 21 - ACT Council of Social Service	PDF (376.2 KB)
Submission 20 - Recruitment and Consulting Services Association	PDF (5.2 MB)
Submission 19 - Carers ACT	PDF (260.3 KB)
Submission 18 - St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn	PDF (1.2 MB)
Submission 17 - Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia	PDF (590.0 KB)
Submission 16 - Association of Professional Staffing Companies Australia	PDF (1.4 MB)
Submission 15 - Housing Industry Association	PDF (1.1 MB)
Submission 14 - ACT Regional Building and Construction Industry Training Council Inc.	PDF (879.8 KB)
Submission 13 - Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation ACT Branch	PDF (329.3 KB)
Submission 12 - Youth Coalition of the ACT	PDF (615.1 KB)
Submission 11 - Canberra Business Chamber	PDF (626.1 KB)
Submission 10 - Master Builders Association ACT	PDF (768.8 KB)
Submission 09 - Women’s Centre for Health Matters	PDF (649.6 KB)
Submission 08 - Maurice Blackburn Lawyers	PDF (7.5 MB)
Submission 07 - Community and Public Sector Union (PSU Group)	PDF (340.8 KB)
Submission 06 - 1300 Apprentice	PDF (2.3 MB)
Submission 05 - Enabled Employment	PDF (1.7 MB)
Submission 04 - Legal Aid ACT	PDF (183.4 KB)
Submission 04b - Legal Aid ACT	PDF (960.8 KB)
Submission 03 - Apprentice Employment Network NSW & ACT	PDF (2.5 MB)
Submission 02 - Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association NSW & ACT	PDF (821.7 KB)
Submission 01 - Maritime Union of Australia	PDF (487.4 KB)

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