Press Conference, Canberra

AMANDA RISHWORTH, MINISTER FOR EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS: Well, today marks 12 months since we have seen a number of the Closing Loophole legislation elements being enacted. Under Closing Loopholes, we were absolutely focused on getting wages moving. And we’ve now seen, in the most recent data, seven consecutive quarters of wage growth in the country. This is good news for so many hard-working Australians. 

Of course, part of Closing Loopholes was about focussing on growing enterprise bargaining. Enterprise bargaining is a productivity measure. It’s where unions and employers sit down, along with their employees, to negotiate what works. We now see a record number 2.67 million Australians covered by Enterprise Agreements. That is the record since enterprise bargaining was introduced in 1991. We are also seeing unemployment remain low.

Now of course, the Opposition says our laws would make the sky fall in. And what we’ve seen through the figures of - whether it's our employment figures, whether it's the jobs growth, whether it's the real wages increase, whether it's enterprise bargaining, whether it is indeed the growth in non-casualised work – a really important part of Closing Loopholes was encouraging more secure work so people could have the hope to be able to get a loan or actually settle in their lives. We've seen an increase in the non-casualised work of over 19 per cent, this is really good news.

One of the key areas of the law changes was the right to disconnect. And of course, that was another area in which the Coalition said the sky was going to fall in. Well, the Australian Human Resources Institute that surveyed employers said that the right to disconnect meant that more employees were engaging in work, and that a significant number were reporting less stress. So, this is really, important work.

Of course, today the right to disconnect is further extended to employees working in small business. We have provided funding to both COSBOA and ACCI to prepare small businesses for this change. But it is a really simple change. It doesn't stop an employer from picking up the phone and contacting an employee. What it does is give a reasonable right for an employee not to have to engage in their downtime. And, as the results have already shown in larger businesses, that promotes productivity, it promotes employee engagement and reduces stress, and that's good for everyone.

JOURNALIST: In practice, how does the right to disconnect work?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: The right to disconnect allows employees the reasonable right not to respond to, say, a phone call and an email if they're not remunerated for it. Of course, it can still be employed in an emergency. Of course, if people are being paid to be on call, of course that is part of the normal employment arrangements.

But I have to say, the Fair Work Commission has indicated that there haven't been any significant disputes. There were a lot of predictions this would be confusing and that employers wouldn't know how to implement it. Well, the Fair Work Commission has indicated there have been no significant disputes on the right to disconnect, and that's good news.

JOURNALIST: But it does mean that employers and employees at least have to have a talking relationship, not one that is potentially threatened by these demands after hours?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Look, what it really means is that, in a reasonable way, employees are not contacted unreasonably. And I'll give you an example. I was speaking to a warehouse worker who, as part of his job, was required to be on an app. And that app really coordinated where goods were right around the country. When he had his time off, all he could hear were dings and dings from right around the country - not even relevant to his work. His employer told him that they couldn't turn off the dings. So, when he was at home watching TV, ding, ding, ding, and he immediately felt like he needed to check his phone. 

When the right to disconnect laws came into place, that workplace worked out a way to stop it dinging for him. So, that is a sensible example of where it wasn't necessary for him to be getting these notifications. It was causing him a level of stress when he was at home. And having the ability to turn off from work has meant he's been better engaged. 

That's just one example of where the right to disconnect means that, on a reasonable level, you shouldn't be having to field huge amounts of phone calls and emails in your time off. Of course, there's exceptions, if there's an emergency or indeed, you're remunerated for that time.

JOURNALIST: But it is to properly delineate between work and non-work?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: Yes. The right to disconnect is making sure that people are not having to take their work home in unpaid hours. And of course, we know in the digital age when there's multiple ways to contact people – whether it’s on Teams, on email, on SMS, through apps - all the different ways you can be feeling stressed about being at work even when you're not at work. 

So, this is a reasonable right to disconnect. And what we're seeing is it's actually delivering benefits. It's delivering benefits that when employees are at work they're more engaged, they're reporting less stress. And that's not my data, that's data from Human Resources Institute of Australia.

JOURNALIST: Just on the Productivity Commission last week, my question's not that good so glad it won't be recorded.

AMANDA RISHWORTH: I’m sure it’s great.

JOURNALIST: So, there are a lot of things heading into the roundtable that were flagged by the unions, like a four-day work week which is quite popular with a lot of people in the workforce. However, no obvious commitment to something like that. Can we expect some long-term IR laws in that regard in the coming three years?

AMANDA RISHWORTH: What we're seeing today are the outcomes of our first tranche of workplace relations laws. And I have to say, there were a lot of predictions about huge job losses and huge problems with the laws. And, 12 months later, we can see that these laws are delivering. Going forward we have already put in our laws the right to request flexible work under certain circumstances. Of course, that might include compressed hours or working from home. 

Our focus is on how we best meet the needs of employers and employees. Enterprise bargaining is critical to negotiating conditions in this country. We have the award system, which is the safety net. But the best way to get work arrangements that match both employees and employers is through enterprise bargaining. 

I am really heartened that the most recent data shows that enterprise bargaining is up. More people are entering into enterprise bargaining and that's where things like compressed hours over four days instead of five are being negotiated.