Page 3906 - Week 12 - Thursday, 23 November 2006

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forward to the government response to this report. I hope to see portable long service leave introduced to the community sector in the near future.

MR BARR (Molonglo—Minister for Education and Training, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Recreation and Minister for Industrial Relations) (5.45), in reply: In closing debate I would like to thank members for their support. I seek to respond to a couple of the issues that have been raised in the debate. On the issue of consultation, my understanding is that the request for this legislation came from the registrar of the Cleaning Long Service Leave Board following an assessment of the operation of section 64 of the act. The board, I understand, contains representatives from both employer and employee groups.

It should be remembered, of course, that the impact of the bill, simply from a worker’s perspective, is that it will ensure that workers continue to enjoy the choice between accessing long service leave either under the cleaning long service leave act or the general Long Service Leave Act, but not both. It ensures that employers are only required to pay for long service leave under one of the acts.

Dr Foskey sought some further information in relation to how the scheme works. I can advise that, under the scheme, workers are entitled to take long service leave after 10 years of service. Payments for leave are financed by contributions made by employers on behalf of their employees. There are also some contractors who make contributions themselves. Registered workers are then credited for their service in the industry. When workers accrue sufficient credits, they are entitled to access long service leave. I thank members again for their support of the bill.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Bill agreed to in principle.

Leave granted to dispense with the detail stage.

Bill agreed to.

Building and Construction Industry Training Levy Amendment Bill 2006

Debate resumed from 21 September 2006, on motion by Mr Barr:

That this bill be agreed to in principle.

MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (5.48): The Liberal opposition will be supporting this bill. It is a straightforward amendment to the Building and Construction Industry Training Levy Act, to bring it into line with some changes made to the Building Act and the building regulations. The principal issue is that it now has the same definition of “exempt work” as in the Building Act, so exempt work for the purpose of the training levy under the Building and Construction Training Levy Act is the same. There are a few little fix-up things in relation to who is responsible for paying the levy and who is, in fact, a project owner for the purposes of the levy.


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