Page 2395 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 2 August 2017
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MS STEPHEN-SMITH (Kurrajong—Minister for Community Services and Social Inclusion, Minister for Disability, Children and Youth, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations) (4.45): I am pleased to rise in support of the amendment moved by the Deputy Chief Minister. I want to start by saying that this government acknowledges and appreciates the invaluable work that unions do play in protecting the safety and rights of workers in their workplaces.
It absolutely makes sense that their experience and expertise would be engaged to make sure that students in schools have appropriate access to information and advice on workplace rights and responsibilities and their health, safety and welfare at work. This government makes no apology for working collaboratively with unions, employer bodies and the community to ensure young people who are at high risk of being injured or exploited at work come home safely from work and get a fair go while they are there.
I support this amendment moved by the Deputy Chief Minister because young workers are vulnerable due to high levels of underemployment and casualisation. I support the amendment because young workers in the ACT and across the country still, all too often, experience exploitation and are exposed to unsafe work practices. I support this amendment because this government takes young workers’ safety and young workers’ rights very seriously and supports a range of measures to ensure that young workers have access to education and expert advice on their rights and responsibilities.
The Youth Coalition has found that more than 43 per cent of respondents to a survey aged between 16 and 21 years held casual jobs, with 69 per cent of those positions in retail, sales and hospitality and tourism. The highest percentage, 19 per cent, had a weekly income of only $100 to $250. More workers across the economy are being pushed, willingly or otherwise, into a state of insecure employment and casual or part-time hours. Many of those who need more hours do not get them, making them even more reliant on the hours they get.
Younger workers, as well as those who do not speak English as their first language, are more likely than ever to be trapped in a cycle of insecure work and at risk of exploitation. Having no alternative employment, workers in insecure jobs not only are more likely to be exploited but are less likely to speak out about it. Without the experience of years in the workplace or alternative jobs, young people face a concerning situation which is made worse when some employers seek to take advantage.
On this side of the chamber, we will stand up for young people. We will stand up for young people not only to enter the workforce but to have their rights in the workplace respected and upheld. Sadly, instead of standing up for young workers, the current federal Liberal government is helping to create an environment that pressures young and vulnerable people into accepting unfair employment conditions. Just one example is the recent federal move to outline a plan for $4 an hour internships, where employers are paid $1,000 to take on an intern for a short period of time and where they are paid a small wage with no guarantee of employment at the end of the day.
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