Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022

The majority voted in favour of disagreeing with amendments introduced by Mackellar MP Sophie Scamps (Independent), which means they failed.

What do the amendments do?

Dr Scamps explained that:

I have moved these amendments to protect small businesses and to reduce the risk that they will be impacted unnecessarily. I do this by removing the uncertainty associated with the common-interest test and raising the bar in regard to the public interest test. Importantly, I seek to remove part 3, the abolishment of the ABCC, which has been a political football with each change of government. I also seek to protect small business by updating and clarifying the common-interest test and also flipping the public interest test to be defined as 'in the public interest', not merely 'contrary to the public interest'. Finally, I move to amend the definition of the small business exemption to be based on 15 full-time-equivalent employees, not merely employees under the current definition of small business.