Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023

Milton Dick

The question is that the bill be agreed to.

Allegra Spender

I move amendments (1) and (3), as circulated in my name, together:

(1) Clause 2, page 2 (table item 1), omit "to 3", substitute "to 4".

(3) Page 4 (after line 11), after clause 3, insert:

4 Review of operation of amendments

(1) The Minister must cause a review to be conducted of the operation of the amendments made by this Act.

(2) Without limiting the matters that may be considered when conducting the review, the review must:

(a) consider whether the operation of the amendments made by this Act is appropriate and effective; and

(b) identify any unintended consequences of the amendments made by this Act; and

(c) consider whether amendments of the Fair Work Act 2009, or any other legislation, are necessary to:

(i) improve the operation of the amendments made by this Act; or

(ii) rectify any unintended consequences identified under paragraph (b).

(3) The review must start no later than 2 years after this section commences.

(4) The persons who conduct the review must give the Minister a written report of the review within 6 months of the commencement of the review.

(5) The Minister must cause a copy of the report of the review to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report.

I move these amendments because I think it is appropriate that we have a review of this bill. It's a complex bill, and I think that we should review it after a number of years to make sure that we understand the impact of the bill and we can fairly reflect on whether we need further amendments after that period of time.

Tony Burke

The government will be supporting these amendments. There is always a question as to what the appropriate time for a review is. Some of what this bill deals with is a new jurisdiction, and the Fair Work Commission dealing with areas it hasn't dealt with before. Anything shorter than two years probably wouldn't work, because of the different start dates of different provisions, so I think the member for Wentworth has definitely got the right balance there on the timing of the review. As is always the case when you go into a new jurisdiction, there will be information that comes as a result of this amendment which can guide the next parliament with some good outcomes and what further refinements might be necessary.

Milton Dick

The question is that the amendments moved by the honourable member for Wentworth be agreed to.