Page 3547 - Week 10 - Tuesday, 25 August 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
Amendment No 8 is to clause 64. This amendment omits clause 64 of the bill and substitutes a new clause that more clearly signposts that the service credits for a covered industry are worked out under that covered industry’s particular schedule.
Amendment No 9, which is to schedule 1, clause 1.16, omits clause 1.16 of schedule 1 and substitutes a new clause 1.16 to clarify for the building and construction industry that a year is based on 220 days and that workers must work at least that number of days per year to accrue a full year of service.
Amendment No 10 to schedule 2, clause 2.16, substitutes a new clause 2.16 that acknowledges the substantial number of cleaners who work on a part-time or casual basis. A cleaner’s working year for long service leave purposes is 365 days, based on the quarterly return periods. However, they are credited with a full quarter of service, regardless of the number of days actually worked during a particular quarter. The calculation of a cleaner’s entitlement is also based on their actual part-time or casual ordinary wages and a cleaner cannot be credited with more than one day of service for each day worked, regardless of the number of employers they work for each day.
Amendment No 11 amends the dictionary to properly identify the relevant schedules for the covered industries. I commend all of the amendments to the Assembly.
MRS DUNNE (Ginninderra) (11.26): The opposition will be supporting these amendments, and I particularly thank the minister for giving way on those issues in relation to strict liability offences. As members know, I have a particular detestation of unnecessary strict liability offences, and it was clear in this case that these were egregious examples. I was assured in the briefing that I received that all the strict liability offences that were in this bill had been in the previous legislation. I am not sure that that was the case with these but I am not going to lose any sleep over that.
I am grateful that the minister has taken up the recommendations of the very diligent adviser to the scrutiny of bills committee. Mr Bayne is the person who finds all the cross-referencing problems; it is beyond my ken. I also think that it is sensible for the minister to have a definite commencement date. We will be supporting these amendments.
MS HUNTER (Ginninderra—Parliamentary Convenor, ACT Greens) (11.27): As I indicated before, the Greens will be supporting the amendments to the bill. We are pleased to see these amendments acknowledging the concerns and recommendations raised by the scrutiny of bills and subordinate legislation committee. I also want to say a thankyou too that I left out earlier to the Office of Industrial Relations and to the Long Service Leave Authority for a briefing on this bill.
Amendments agreed to.
Bill, as a whole, as amended, agreed to.
Bill, as amended, agreed to.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .