Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association National Officials Meeting

check against delivery Good morning everyone. I acknowledge the Kaurna people as the Traditional Custodians of the lands we are meeting on. And I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present.

I also want to acknowledge all the SDA officials and organisers here this morning, and the work that you do. You all do such an important job – representing and fighting for some of Australia’s lowest paid workers. And of course, I want to congratulate you all for your work on the Adult Age, Adult Wage campaign, to remove junior rates for workers over 18 across retail, fast food and pharmacy.

I know many of you would have been involved in that campaign, doing the grassroots work to build awareness and understanding of the issue, arguing that junior rates for these workers did not recognise their skills, expertise and responsibilities. You did the hard industrial slog – and you won. Because of your advocacy, tens of thousands of young adult workers will now earn more at such an important time in their lives.

So congratulations. I am proud to be a member of the Albanese Labor Government, that has worked together with the union movement to deliver real change for workers. Our Government has your back.

We are changing Australia’s workplace relations laws, to help you as union officials and organisers to be able to do your job – to advocate for workers and defend their rights. Our Government has legislated to protect penalty and overtime rates for our lowest-paid workers. And I want to acknowledge the SDA’s advocacy for that law change, as you represent many workers who rely on those penalty rates.

Our Government continues to back these low-paid workers, by advocating to the Fair Work Commission for a minimum wage rise each and every year we have been in Government. Our Government also put explicit rights and protections for union delegates into law, that mean an employer cannot refuse to deal with a delegate or obstruct that delegate from exercising their rights.

As a former SDA official myself, I understand just how important delegates are. I’ve stood alongside delegates to get decent rostering. I’ve worked alongside health and safety reps to make workplaces safer.

And I carry those stories and perspectives of working people with me into every room as Minister. Of course, while our Government has delivered wide-ranging improvements to our workplace relations laws – we need unions to take these laws and use them to benefit working people. Our Government’s reforms to enterprise bargaining laws allow more workers to access the benefits of bargaining.

Including in the supported bargaining stream, so low-paid workers can come together, with the support of their unions, and collectively bargain for better pay and conditions. The SDA have used these reforms to bring McDonalds back to the bargaining table – and now McDonalds have agreed to bargaining nationally, for the first time in eight years. Our Government’s Same Job Same Pay laws levelled the playing field, so that companies can’t undercut hard-won wages and conditions through labour hire.

Because we believe in a very simple proposition: two people doing the same job, should be paid the same. And the SDA has used these laws to secure pay rises for labour-hire workers working in warehouses across the country – ensuring they get the same pay and conditions as the people they are working next to. Our Government is committed to ensuring that all workers have safe and healthy workplaces.

I am also a former WHS trainer for the SDA, so I understand how important the union movement is to improving health and safety outcomes for workers. But I know that unfortunately, too many retail and fast food workers face significant psychosocial hazards in their workplace, whether it’s understaffing, customer abuse or excessive workloads. That’s why our Government has introduced a Commonwealth code of practice to manage psychosocial risks to workers’ mental health.

Our Government, along with the states and territories, also commissioned Safe Work Australia to conduct a best practice review of our WHS laws, which is now in its final stages. That review heard from a host of stakeholders, including the SDA, about how we can improve the work health and safety laws across Australia. And once it is complete, I am keen to develop a work plan which picks up the ideas generated from the review so we can progress positive reforms that make workplaces safer.

These are great achievements. But of course, we know that there is always more to be done. Our Labor Government has a clear agenda to build on these achievements, and continue to deliver real change for Australian workers.

Whether you’re an organiser or industrial officer, I know that all of you fight hard on behalf of your members, to protect their rights and uphold their conditions. But I’d be willing to bet that all of you have also seen cases where workers have had their pay undercut, or they’ve been unfairly treated at work. And you’ve also seen how difficult and time-consuming it can be to get fair and timely resolutions to these workplace disputes.

Because of the delays in our legal system, workers might have to wait for months or years to get an outcome. For example, I met Sarah this weekend, who was underpaid by her boss and had to wait for two years to get the money she was owed. Many fast food and retail workers like Sarah are having to wait too long to get the outcomes they deserve, even if it’s for a relatively small dispute.

That’s why our Government last week made a major announcement that we will establish a new Fair Work Court. This new Fair Work Court will provide a specialist jurisdiction for resolving workplace relations disputes, with expert judges sitting on the court. The Court will have different functions to the Fair Work Commission, which will remain Australia’s independent workplace relations tribunal and responsible for conciliation and arbitration.

But this Fair Work Court will play a critical, complementary role to the Commission. It will provide fair, efficient and timely resolutions for both workers and employers. And it will help unions by making it easier to do the important work you do in fighting for your members.

As I said earlier, registered unions like the SDA are absolutely critical actors in our workplace relations system, alongside employers, especially when it comes to enterprise bargaining. All of you know your members and your industry incredibly well. You know what matters to them.

But there are unregistered organisations that claim to also represent industries and workers who are already represented by registered unions like the SDA. These unregistered organisations risk undermining the integrity and effectiveness of our whole workplace relations system. Because they are not subject to the same high standards of democratic control, accountability and oversight as registered unions.

That’s why I will be exploring ways to ensure that the work of legitimate unions is not undermined by these unregistered organisations. Of course, one of the biggest factors shaping Australian workplaces is AI. And our Government is actively working on ways that we can address the emerging impacts of AI in the workplace.

Displacement of workers is one challenge that we need to deal with. But there are others that don’t get talked about as much, including the use of AI as a management tool. Your union has raised examples of retail stores bringing in AI to track workers when they scan products at the checkout.

One example was of a retail worker who had been a long-term loyal employee. When this technology was brought in, it picked up that she had scanned a couple of items incorrectly at the checkout. And it straightaway issued her an automatic notice warning, after 20 years of excellent service.

AI cannot replicate the human empathy or understanding that a good manager might have. But if a human manager was reviewing that worker’s performance, they could have easily recognised this was human error. AI is also having an impact on work health and safety risks for workers.

Using AI as a surveillance tool means workers might feel as though they are constantly being watched, raising concerns about their loss of autonomy. That feeling of always being on camera can also contribute to psychological stress and the risk of psychosocial injuries. These are very real concerns – and our Government will continue to work with the union movement to address emerging risks caused by artificial intelligence, and ensure workers have appropriate protections.

That includes ensuring workers’ rights are fit for purpose, and making sure that the introduction of new technologies does not undermine pay and safety. Of course, our Government strongly believes that workers and their unions should be meaningfully and genuinely consulted in decisions regarding the use of AI where it impacts their job. And one of the ways I am building that into our workplace relations system is through the tripartite AI Employment and Workplace Forum, which I chair.

This Forum ensures that unions have a real seat at the table, alongside employer groups, in discussions regarding the impacts of AI in the workplace. And your National Secretary Gerard Dwyer participated in the most recent Forum, highlighting the real concerns from SDA members regarding the use of AI to intrusively monitor workers. As I said earlier, our Government has achieved a lot, working together with the union movement.

But there is always more to do. And we will continue to work hard to deliver real change for SDA members and for all working Australians.