CPSU Federal Office

On the final sitting day of Federal Parliament for 2023, the government’s amended Closing Loopholes bill was passed with the support of Greens and key independents.  The amended laws include new rules to outlaw wage theft as a criminal offence, reforms to better protect some workers’ redundancy entitlements and changes to enhance work health and safety.

Labour hire workers can now no longer be paid less than employees doing the same job in their workplaces as a result of the industrial reforms passed.

Tax avoidance by multinational corporations reduces the funding available for the essential public services that we all rely on and much more needs to be done to tackle tax dodging.  Increasingly our members are facing tighter budgets which impact on the ability to meet the community’s needs in many areas.  Australians need stronger laws and more transparency on multinationals tax affairs in order to raise the additional revenue needed for public investments that will create a better society and stronger economic future for all of us.

Our NSW Public Service Association is advocating for the implementation of national laws to ensure the protection of officers using lethal weapons following the death of an inmate.  NSW Public Service Association’s general secretary Stewart Little said while the case happened in his state there were implications for prison officers and other law enforcers nationally in use of force.  Moving high-risk convicted criminals through the community for medical, legal or funeral attendance will need new laws to give officers confidence to use lethal force to prevent an escape he said.

The WA government has abandoned its blanket, public sector-wide wages policy, instead opting to return to individual negotiations with unions.  Premier Roger Cook said the move will allow more flexibility in negotiations and allow for "fair but financially sustainable" increases.  In recent years the government has negotiated conditions and bonuses with individual unions, but locked in a set pay rise for more than 140,000 public sector staff.  Cook said moving away from all public sector workers being offered the same pay rise would deliver greater flexibility in the bargaining process, to

Child Protection workers across the country have been trying to engage with their respective Departments about their workload for years.  Our message has been simple.  The system is stretched, workloads are unsustainable, we cannot provide adequate care to children in need, and we must adopt a national approach to staff shortages instead of stealing qualified practitioners from each other.

The Child Protection workforce is under immense stress and strain, with a severe shortfall in recruitment and an ongoing struggle to retain current practitioners.

16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence has begun. The Walk Against Family Violence took place last Friday, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and it marks the start of 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence. The staggering list of women killed at the hands of ex/partners and family members is testament to the need for action on family violence. Family violence is a workplace issue.

The Federal Government has established a Service Delivery Advisory Group (GSDAG) to provide expert guidance, consultation, and recommendations on matters relating to the design and implementation of Government Services. Minister Bill Shorten has invited CPSU/SPSF Federal Secretary Karen Batt to join the independent body of expert specialists tasked with providing advice to the Minister for Government Services and Services Australia.

NSW Labor will reverse the privatisation of NSW jails, with Junee Correctional Centre returning to public ownership for the first time in 30 years followed by the notorious Parklea jail in western Sydney.  The NSW government has confirmed the contract with US multinational GEO Group for the southern NSW prison will not be renewed after 2025. The government estimates that it will cost the state $75 million a year to operate Junee at full capacity.  Junee prison is one of the largest in the state, housing more than 1000 inmates, including more than 480 maximum security prisoners.

Convention 151 which provides an international industrial framework for public sector workers’ to collectively bargain ensuring same industrial rights as private sector workers was the subject of a great discussion with officials from the ILO on Australia & Fiji government processes for moving ratification forward when we attended Global PSI meeting in Geneva earlier this month

Tax loopholes that benefit multinational companies in Australia are “stealing from the next generation”, prominent unions have warned.  The Community and Public Sector Union told a parliamentary inquiry into multinational tax avoidance that many companies advising governments on various policies had been exploiting loopholes.  The union’s joint national secretary Karen Batt said a dangerous cycle was playing out in government policy-making due to the current tax loopholes.