Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026

Dr GARLAND (Chisholm) (12:22): Australia has always led the way on some pretty important workplace reforms that empower workers and make life fairer for our communities. Before coming to this place, I had the honour of working in the oldest continuously operating trades and labour council in the world. This is where the eight-hour day was first won, and it is where campaigns for equal pay have been led from.

As Australians, we still have a very important role to play in pushing workplace relations into the future to have more empowered workplaces and more-equal pay. In an increasingly, volatile global economic environment, it's really important that we maintain and build upon the high standards that workers have fought for throughout Australian history. Workers deserve secure employment that is founded upon the values of enterprise, opportunity and fairness, and the Albanese Labor government is delivering just that.

In 2022 we made a commitment to Australians that we would repair the horrible damage of the previous coalition governments who, in nine years, achieved nothing but wage stagnation and growing gender pay inequality. Three years after we were elected, we've delivered upon our commitments, and we are continuing to make structural reforms that will serve working families for decades to come.

I want to acknowledge the many workers and their families and communities who have really led a lot of this work, often through their trade unions. Our agenda is built upon a commitment to getting wages moving again and to improving employment outcomes. Unemployment is low, with more than 14.6 million people in work, which is a record high.

But it's not enough to simply put people to work; as the government, we have a duty to ensure that Australians feel confident about their future. That's why our government has made getting more workers under an enterprise agreement that works for them, not against them, a priority. Enterprise agreements, when they provide a level playing field for both parties, reduce disputes, offer fairer compensation and increase productivity.

Constructive dialogue between employers and workers keeps our workplaces healthy, and it is clear that only Labor will facilitate this dialogue. It's why more Australians are covered by enterprise agreements than ever before, and the reason why industrial disputes are at a historic low. Our assurance that no Australian be left behind is also why we are closing loopholes in the modern award safety net, protecting the 2.6 million Australians who rely on them.

Current laws allow employers to roll up penalty and overtime rates into a single rate of pay, leaving employees without the compensation they're owed, and Labor is changing that. It's also well known that the face of workplace culture is changing. Fewer workers are sitting in the office for five days a week; instead, they are opting to work from home.

I think the Australian people have made very clear that they deeply value the ability to work from home and have that flexibility for their families and communities. Of course, this extends to the right to disconnect, and Labor is legislating provisions that promote sensible discussions about work-life balance. Unlike those opposite, who went into the election with the bizarre plans to make life harder for working families, we believe in making work as flexible as possible rather than turning back the clock.

The clock moves forward too on gender equality under our government. We have put gender equality at the heart of the workplace relations system, ensuring that the Fair Work Commission must consider pay equity in its decision-making. Under our government, women are earning more and keeping more of what they earn.

Australian women working full time are, on average, around $250 better off weekly than they were when we first came into office in May 2022. It's because of our reforms that we have been able to narrow the gender pay gap. It's now at a record low of 11.5 per cent.

We still absolutely have work to do, but that is certainly better than the 14.1 per cent that we inherited from those opposite—standing in the way of progress as always. Women have been undervalued in our workplaces for far too long, and that's why we've made it easier for workplaces in historically lower paid, female dominated industries to bargain collectively, delivering a pay increase of 15 per cent for early childhood educators.

Our government knows there is more work to be done to make sure we have fair workplaces for everyone, and Australians have always led the way on progressive workplace reform and will continue to do so under our Labor government.