UnionsACT today welcomed the introduction of the ACT labour hire licensing scheme.
The scheme would align the ACT with the successful Victorian and Queensland schemes.
Under the scheme, labour hire companies would need to demonstrate past and ongoing compliance with workplace laws to become licensed.
Some of Australia’s worst labour abuses in recent years have occurred in the labour hire industry. Inquiries in the ACT, and other states have found that the labour hire industry is responsible for undermining wages, reducing job security, and worse safety outcomes.
More than 13 percent of workers in the ACT are employed via labour hire or similar arrangements.
The following quotes are attributable to Alex White, Secretary of UnionsACT:
“The system of labour hire is designed to shift risk from employers to workers, and ACT workers have experienced worse rights and lower pay due to the scourge of labour hire.
“The evidence is clear: labour hire creates structural incentives for employers to exploit workers, steal wages and increase the risk of injury.
“For too long, an underbelly of dodgy labour hire companies have preyed on vulnerable working people.
“These dodgy companies should have no place in the ACT, and the new labour hire licensing scheme will ensure that labour hire companies that break the law cannot operate, while those companies who do the right thing can continue.”
