Wage Theft

The Hon. I. PNEVMATIKOS (16:25): I move:

1. That this council establish a select committee of the Legislative Council to inquire into and report on wage theft in South Australia, with particular reference to—

(a) the prevalence and incidence of wage theft in South Australia, with acknowledgement to evidence of wage theft from other parts of Australia;

(b) the impact of wage theft on workers, families, law-abiding citizens, the economy and community;

(c) the various forms that wage theft can take, including through unpaid superannuation and any other statutory entitlements, the misuse of ABNs and sham contracting arrangements;

(d) the reasons why wage theft is occurring, including whether the current regulatory framework and practices are effective for deterrence;

(e) the sectors in which wage theft is prevalent, including industries, occupations, parts of the state, or among cohorts of workers;

(f) the effectiveness of the current regulatory framework at state and federal level in dealing with wage theft and supporting affected workers, including whether conditions preventing prosecution of white collar fraud are fundamental towards supporting the legality of wage theft;

(g) measures to ensure support services are in place to ensure accessible and cost-effective justice to expedite claims;

(h) options for ensuring wage theft is eradicated, including consideration of regulatory and other measures either implemented or proposed in other jurisdictions interstate, nationally or internationally and the role of industrial organisations, including unions and employer registered bodies in addressing and preventing wage theft; and

(i) any other related matter.

2. That standing order 389 be so far suspended as to enable the chairperson of the committee to have a deliberative vote only.

3. That this council permits the committee to authorise the disclosure or publication, as it sees fit, of any evidence or documents presented to the committee prior to any such evidence being reported to the council.

4. That standing order 396 be suspended to enable strangers to be admitted when the committee is examining witnesses unless the committee otherwise resolves, but they shall be excluded when the committee is deliberating.

Today I rise to move the private member's motion standing in my name because I believe that the confronting information regarding the prevalence of wage theft in Australia can no longer be ignored. For too long, we have heard about workers being taken advantage of through sham contracting, unpaid superannuation, misuse of ABNs, and other statutory entitlements. The fraudulent behaviour of some businesses is impacting on workers and their families, on the community and on the economy.

Before entering parliament, my professional and community work was centred on supporting and achieving results for workers and disadvantaged individuals in South Australia. I have represented workers and assisted them in navigating the judicial system to recover their wages, and I can tell you one thing: it is costly and difficult for workers to recover their entitlements. It is estimated that one in three eligible Australian workers are underpaid; that is, 2.4 million workers in Australia, with approximately $3.6 billion stolen each year.

It is naive and irresponsible for the government to ignore the issue, and to pretend that wage theft is not happening in our state and that our workers and law-abiding businesses are not suffering. Workers in South Australia have a right to have accessible and cost-effective justice, and our government should be proactive and investigate the prevalence of this issue in our state.

As recently as last week, I was advised of concerns surrounding an employer who had not paid some of their employees for the work they had undertaken over the past two months. Due to the connections the business has with the local community, these employees are facing barriers to justice that are not adequately addressed through the current regulatory framework.

The matter is complex. There is a real fear of the repercussions of seeking fairness, not just from a financial standpoint but also of the implications they will face in the local community. I would like our government to stand up and commit to working Australians by investigating the occurrence of wage theft in South Australia so that we can constructively end the malaise. We have a responsibility as a government to ensure that the regulatory frameworks in place are effectively supporting South Australian workers. They deserve justice and this motion will be the first step we take.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins.