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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 5 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1606 ..

MR BERRY (continuing):

erection of the flagpole. Eventually, those well-organised workers won and portability under the building and construction industry scheme was extended to the Australian Capital Territory.

This is a sign or signal, if you like, of the incremental improvements in access to long service leave which have been occurring over many years. The concept of long service leave goes back to before Federation in the 19th century when employees of the crown became entitled to three months paid leave after a number of years service to take account of the sailing time for a return trip to England.

The modern interpretation is much more recent, with the original long service leave legislation being enacted in New South Wales in 1955. It was introduced at a time when a job for life was common and it recognised that, after a long period at work, workers needed a break to refresh and reinvigorate themselves before another long period of work. Moving between employers does not remove the obligation for a just society to provide workers with a break to refresh and reinvigorate themselves after a long period of work.

If I may, Mr Deputy Speaker, I recall an uncle of mine who at the age of 14 left school and went to work in one of Lord Vestey's imperial meatworks. He worked in that meatworks in the same department until he was 65. Those days are gone for the most part and workers now move more and more between employers. Workers in the ACT private sector are eligible for 12 weeks long service leave after 15 years of service. Public sector workers are entitled to 12 weeks after 10 years. The 1996 amendments to the building and construction industry scheme increased the entitlement in that industry from two months after 10 years service to three months.

The work environment has changed markedly since the 1950s when long service leave was introduced. Job security is a thing of the past. The concept of a job for life is now rare. Many more workers are on temporary, short term and casual contracts. Workers can have several employers at once or over a year. Those in full-time employment are working longer hours, with less paid overtime. Penalty rates for out-of-hours and weekend work are disappearing.

We now have the situation where people are working longer hours under increasing pressure to be more productive, but with little or no job security. The increased stress, pressure and uncertainty in the workplace add up to a case for greater need for workers to have access to leave, but many miss out altogether on long service leave, even though they work continuously for much more than 10 or 15 years at a time.

More than 90 per cent of the employment growth over the last 20 years has been in casual and contract work that does not accrue long service leave. The work patterns are changing, often with the aim of reducing costs by minimising workers' entitlements, but this does not remove the obligation on society to provide just outcomes for its workers. This bill creates a level playing field for employers and rules out the minimisation of long service leave entitlements to make an enterprise more competitive.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics consolidated labour force figures, the work force in the ACT is 182,000 strong. The ACT government employs 18,000

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