Page 2531 - Week 08 - Wednesday, 23 August 2006
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He has brought no evidence to back up his argument. He has repeated the tired old claims of the unions, which have been totally discredited by the facts over the last 10 years—in fact over the few months since the WorkChoices legislation came into effect. Mr Gentleman should go away, rework this motion and perhaps come back with something that we can actually have a rational debate about instead of a bunch of discredited stories that no-one believes anymore because people in Australia have got it very good. The workers of Australia have never had it so good.
MR SPEAKER: The member’s time has expired.
MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Industrial Relations) (12.15): To return to the subject of the motion, the link between job security and the health of workers is undeniable. Ongoing studies have consistently drawn a parallel between job security and workers’ health. For example, an ANU study from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health found a link between working conditions and the health and wellbeing of parents and their children.
The study found that health hazards at work were increasingly likely to stem from psychological factors such as stress rather than just physical conditions. It also found that employers must consider issues such as job demand and control and job security to maintain a healthy work force. The ANU study found that when workers are not able to negotiate improved family friendly provisions or flexible working arrangements that assist them in their caring responsibilities, they often suffer increased stress, leading to long-term effects on their health and that of their children.
More recently a study of male workers in Britain found that an effort-reward imbalance exists where high levels of work intensity, without reward, such as money, esteem or job security, can lead over time to a higher incidence of angina. The imbalance is likely to be experienced when the employee has little or no control over his work-life balance.
In the ILO report entitled Economic security for a better world, the link between individuals’ economic security and their emotional wellbeing was examined. The ILO found that job security is a major contributor to economic wellbeing. The report found that, even though workers were paid adequately, they still experienced increased anxiety and stress due to job security worries. A key finding of the report is that people in countries that provide their citizens with a high level of economic security have higher levels of happiness on average. The report found that the most important determinant of national happiness is not income level, although there is a positive association. Rather, the key factor is the extent of income security measured in terms of income protection and a low degree of income inequality.
These critical factors are removed for many workers through the commonwealth-imposed industrial relations changes and the WorkChoices legislation. The removal of the unfair dismissal protections for so many working families in the ACT will result in a decrease in job security for workers in workplaces with fewer than 101 workers. Add to that the increasing likelihood that some larger workplaces, where unfair dismissal laws do apply, could use operational reasons excuse to sack workers and to remove job security for a significant proportion of workers in the ACT.
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