Page 1557 - Week 06 - Thursday, 2 July 2020
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knowing whether they should raise privacy concerns about the disclosure of their personal information. Further, it is very unclear how permit holders will be prevented from taking covert recordings whilst in a workplace. Again, the potential for misuse of these powers is all too great.
Changes such as these, made in the name of workplace safety, only serve to weaponise the industrial relations battleground and do little to improve safety. Ultimately, the victim here will be workplace safety. Given the real potential for misuse and the inconsistencies I have outlined today, the opposition will not be supporting these aspects of the bill.
Once again, it seems that the minister is merely rubberstamping the demands of her union backers, on the eve of an ACT election. This bill does little to support employers or employees during the biggest economic crisis that many of us will see in our lifetime and shows nothing but short-sightedness on the part of this minister or the Barr Labor-Greens government.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (5.38): The ACT Greens will be supporting the Employment and Workplace Safety Legislation Amendment Bill 2020. The changes in this bill serve to enhance protections for ACT workers and businesses and align us with national current practice. The amendments to the Workers Compensation Act 1951 make sense and will offer further clarity to stakeholders. Workers have the right to be safe at work and should be covered if they are injured or adversely impacted by their workplace. Streamlining the process for workers compensation should assist businesses to meet the requirements under the act.
As the minister for road safety, I note the ongoing national work on dangerous goods legislation. The changes to the Dangerous Goods (Road Transport) Act 2009 will more closely align our legislation with the model laws. Given our position within New South Wales and as part of the road network that crosses Australia, it makes sense to support the ongoing harmonisation with the model legislation as it is updated.
The Work Health and Safety Act 2011 provides directions for work health and safety matters in the ACT, in line with other states and territories across the country. It includes provisions for documenting and accessing information about work health and safety breaches and potential breaches.
The amendments proposed by Minister Orr give explicit permission for work health and safety entry permit holders regarding photographs, film, audio/video or other recordings. Entry permit holders are just one of a range of people under the Work Health and Safety Act to have a responsibility and permission to act on breaches and potential breaches of the act.
The amendments proposed in this bill should serve to strengthen compliance as they allow for increased evidence gathering, and therefore they should improve safety on ACT worksites. These powers also align with the ACT Greens’ policy for legislated strong right of entry powers for unions to protect workplace safety and workplace rights.
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