Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda Victorian Bills Explanatory Memoranda[Index] [Search] [Download] [Bill] [Help]
Outworkers (Improved Protection)
(Amendment) Bill
Introduction Print
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM
General
The Bill amends the Outworkers (Improved Protection) Act 2003 to
enhance the protection of outworkers in the clothing industry by ensuring that
all outworkers are entitled to the provisions of any relevant federal award and
makes a number of technical amendments in relation to updating references
in federal legislation.
Clause Notes
Clause 1 sets out the main purpose of the Bill, which is to amend the
Outworkers (Improved Protection) Act 2003 to ensure that
outworkers receive the minimum entitlements contained in any
relevant federal awards.
Clause 2 states that the Act will come into effect on 1 August 2005.
Clause 3 states that in the Bill the Outworkers (Improved Protection)
Act 2003 is called the Principal Act.
Clause 4 inserts a definition of "clothing industry" and amends the
definitions of "outworker" and "remuneration" in the Principal
Act.
Sub-clause (1)(a) inserts a definition of "clothing industry" in the
same terms as the definition in the federal award for the clothing
industry.
Sub-clause (1)(b) amends the definition of "outworker" by
deleting the words "for someone else's business", to ensure that
an outworker who operates through a business structure owned or
operated by the outworker is not excluded.
Sub-clause (2) amends the definition of "remuneration" in
section 5 of the Principal Act to clarify that remuneration
includes any amounts payable to an outworker under the new
section 14A (see clause 7).
1
551294 BILL LA INTRODUCTION 22/2/2005
Clause 5 amends section 7 of the Principal Act to provide that an apparent
employer cannot avoid liability for claims by an outworker for
unpaid remuneration in section 6 of the Principal Act by referring
the claim to a body corporate that is owned or managed by the
outworker who has made the claim for unpaid remuneration.
Clause 6 Sub-clause (1) amends section 12(4) of the Principal Act to
confirm that the mechanism in section 60 for recovery of money
owed and in section 61 for payment of arrears are available in
relation to a claim against a principal contractor liable under
section 12 of the Principal Act.
Sub-clause (2) inserts a new sub-section in section 14 of the
Principal Act to clarify that a principal contractor cannot avoid
liability for claims under section 12 only because the
subcontractor is a business or body corporate owned by the
outworker concerned.
Clause 7 inserts a new Division 3 in Part 2 of the Principal Act to confer
on outworkers the same conditions as those under any relevant
federal award, and a corresponding obligation on a person who
engages an outworker to not provide a lesser benefit.
Section 14A(1) provides outworkers who are not bound by any
federal award in the clothing industry with an entitlement to the
same conditions that would apply if they were.
Section 14A(2) makes it an offence to provide an outworker with
a condition that is less than any that would apply if the outworker
and the person who engages them were bound by the award.
Section 14A(3) provides that sub-sections (1) and (2) do not
apply if a federal award or Commonwealth Act confers the same
benefits or imposes the same obligations on the outworker or the
person who engages the outworker. This is inserted to ensure
that section 14A(1) and (2) are not invalid because they purport
to impose requirements already imposed by federal legislation or
awards.
Clause 8 updates a reference to a provision in the federal Workplace
Relations Act 1996 dealing with conscientious objection
certificates. The provision has been transferred from section 267
of that Act to section 180 of Schedule 1B to that Act.
Clause 9 Sub-clause (1) inserts new powers to make regulations with
respect to a regime of record-keeping, registration, lodging
documents, dispute resolution and like provisions found in
federal awards in the clothing industry to enhance levels of
compliance with outworkers' lawful entitlements.
2
Sub-clause (2) enables regulations to confer a discretionary
authority or impose a duty on specified persons, bodies or
classes. This power is to support the making of regulations
referred to in sub-clause (1).
3