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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-09 Daily Xml
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SAFEWORK SA

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (15:29): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about the issue of SafeWork SA.

Leave granted.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS: On 25 October this year, SafeWork SA on their website, under the heading of 'Child Employment', outlined proposed child employment laws for South Australia. Without going through all the details of that, industry association representatives have indicated to me that there are some complex and controversial aspects of the government's proposed legislation on the Child Employment Bill, and the government website said that submissions closed by 19 November, just over three weeks from the opening of submissions.

Given that the parliament, we understand, will be rising in November (the government's intention would be not to take up the optional setting week, the last week of November, the first week of December) and will not reconvene until February, obviously there is the option for the minister to direct his agency to extend the length of consultation to allow some of the industry associations and other interested parties to make a submission to SafeWork SA on the issue.

In particular, I have been contacted by Business SA representatives indicating their view that it would be helpful if the deadline could be extended. My questions are:

1. Given that he is the minister for the agency and given the time lines I have outlined, is he prepared to consider the option of extending the time lines for receiving submissions from 19 November to something more sensible, perhaps closer to Christmas, which would still give the minister and the agency plenty of time to proceed—

The PRESIDENT: Order! The time having expired for question time, the minister.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:31): The Child Employment Bill was made available for public comment via a direct mail-out to 60 key stakeholders and invitations for public comment by the SafeWork SA website and the Youth@Work website. A draft of the bill was first presented to the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee, on which Business SA does have representatives, way back in late 2009 for comment, so we have already had some input.

The comments from employer groups emphasise the need to ensure a child's prospects of acquiring employment is not jeopardised—we understand that—and most expressed a desire for the government to provide reasonably specific detail of the areas where regulations and codes of practice will be established so that they could provide more practical input.

Considerable consultation has occurred over the last two years prior to the development of the bill, and I know unions generally are extremely supportive of the proposal to enact the legislation. The bill was amended to incorporate many of the comments that we had, and so this second draft was provided to the Industrial Relations Advisory Committee on 23 September 2010, and again Business SA and business generally have representatives there. If any of those organisations believe that they do need more time to look at it, then they only have to approach me. In relation to significant trees, some councils approached me in relation to extending the deadline, which I was happy to do so that they would have more opportunity to make a response.

The point I am making is that the Child Employment Bill has been out for a long time and the government would like to see this come to some finalisation, given it has been several years in the making, but some groundbreaking issues need to be carefully considered. If any of those groups believe that they need more time to do it, then if they can come to me with a reasonable case, I will give it careful consideration, as I do with any request to extend deadlines.

As I said, I do it regularly if there is a good case for it. I am surprised that Business SA itself, given that it has been involved through its reps on a number of occasions, would request that. I am not aware of their directly approaching me—they may have spoken to my office—but if they can give a good case, I will consider it sympathetically.

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