Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026
Ms CAMPBELL (Moreton) (09:37): In a surprising moment in this place, the member for Wannon opposes legislation that fundamentally is focused on workplace relations reform. What a shocker! And it's so unsurprising in actual fact because the member for Wannon voted against same job, same pay.
He reckons that, if you're working side-by-side, you shouldn't be getting paid the same. The member for Wannon sent manufacturing workers overseas and thought that their jobs should be offshored. These are the architects of WorkChoices.
They're the architects of AWAs. They are the people who are the natural enemy of working Australians. And they've got their backs up today because one of their favourite pastimes is giving working people a big kick.
Like Dennis Shanahan, I don't think that endless alliteration and the new wordplay that we've heard today is anywhere near sound political strategy, but I'll play along. The member for Wannon is the worst for workers not only because of the positions that they've taken in terms of workplace relations not just over this term but for decades but also because of what the coalition have stood for when it comes to reforms that help everyday working Australians every day.
That's why they voted against a tax cut for every working Australian. That's why they chose to vote against policy that would assist working Australians to get into their very first home. And that's why they voted against every single piece of cost-of-living relief moved by this Labor government.
Across my electorate on Brisbane's south side, people work hard for their families. Whether it's a tradie from Coopers Plains heading out before dawn, a nurse at the QEII hospital finishing a long shift or a barista in Sunnybank, people want the same thing. They want a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, they want secure employment and they want a workplace relations system that works for them.
A system that protects workers, a system that supports business, a system that rewards productivity and helps people get ahead—that's what this bill is about. The Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026 makes a series of practical improvements to Australia's workplace relations framework. These changes are designed to ensure Australia's workplace relations system remains fair and is efficient and capable of delivering better outcomes for workers, employers and indeed the broader economy.
Legislation such as this is often portrayed by those opposite as a choice between supporting workers and supporting business, but the reality is that strong economies and strong workplaces depend on both of those things. They depend on workers having secure jobs, fair wages and confidence in their rights at work, and they depend on businesses having the certainty to invest, to innovate and to create opportunities.
My local electorate is full of fantastic small businesses. The other day I was at French & Mor cafe in Sunnybank with Bianca. I was also at Endua in Archerfield, which specialises in electrolyser technology.
I was talking to Richard Huang, who heads up the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce. They're all on the south side and all running strong small businesses. What they all have in common is that they want certainty for those businesses and a workplace relations system that is fair, that is effective and that is fit for purpose and helps make that possible.
That's why it's important that our workplace laws and institutions continue to evolve alongside the workplaces, the industries and the technologies that they are designed to support. This bill contains a series of practical reforms designed to strengthen that system—so, no, it is not surprising that those opposite don't support it. The Fair Work Commission sits at the core of Australia's workplace relations system.
Every year, it assists thousands of workers and employers to resolve disputes, to negotiate agreements and to access workplace protections. When the commission works well, disputes are resolved more quickly, uncertainty is reduced and workplaces can move forward. But, when delays occur, the consequences are felt by everyone.
Workers can be left waiting months for certainty about their future, businesses can be left navigating lengthy and costly processes, and resources that should be directed towards resolving disputes can instead be consumed by procedural issues. I cut my teeth representing working people in the manufacturing industry. When you sit down with someone who doesn't know what's going to happen with their job, who's not sure where their next pay cheque might come from, who can't plan for what their family might be able to do in the months and years ahead—that's a problem.
This bill responds to those challenges. It introduces a series of practical reforms that will help the commission manage its workload more effectively and resolve those kinds of matters more efficiently. Importantly, these reforms are not about reducing workplace protections, nor are they about limiting access to the commission.
They are about ensuring the commission can focus its time and resources where they matter the most—resolving disputes, supporting bargaining and delivering outcomes. The bill streamlines a number of administrative processes and provides additional mechanisms to deal with applications that are frivolous, are vexatious or have no reasonable prospects of success.
That matters and it matters because every hour spent dealing with matters that have little prospect of success is an hour that cannot be spent assisting workers and employers with genuine workplace disputes that need to be resolved so that all parties can move forward. The bill also responds to practical challenges that have emerged in recent years, including growing workloads and increasing complexity across the workplace relations system.
Following a Federal Court decision several years ago, the commission has often been required to determine complex jurisdictional questions before parties can even begin the process of conciliation or mediation. The complexity starts before they even get to the table to try and work things through. In practical terms, this can mean that workers and employers spend additional time and resources arguing about whether a matter can be heard before they've even had an opportunity to attempt to resolve the dispute itself.
This bill restores a much more practical approach. It allows the commission to move more quickly to assisting parties to resolve disputes through conciliation and mediation, while preserving that ability for substantive issues to be properly considered if a matter proceeds further. That is sensible reform.
It would allow the commission to focus its resources on helping parties reach outcomes, rather than getting bogged down in procedural questions. Fair outcomes are what's important here. That's what this legislation is about.
We know it impacts on livelihoods. We know it impacts on family planning. We know that it goes beyond the worker and the business.
It goes to the people surrounding them. For working people, it goes to the impact on their families. For businesses, it goes to the aftermarket and their employees.
Ensuring that that is resolved as soon as possible is surely a logical, simple and straightforward reform that the Australian people need. As we've said, the bill also strengthens the commission's ability to deal with applications that are frivolous. The overwhelming majority of people who engage with the Fair Work Commission do so legitimately and in good faith, but where processes are misused, it places additional pressure on the system and it delays outcomes for others wanting to use the system to resolve their challenges.
These measures will help protect the integrity of the commission while ensuring genuine applicants continue to have access to workplace protections and dispute resolution mechanisms. Labor understands that workers deserve timely outcomes, that employers deserve timely outcomes and that the Fair Work Commission deserves the tools necessary to perform its role effectively for everyone.
One of the most effective ways of building productive and cooperative workplaces is through good-faith bargaining. Enterprise bargaining allows workers and employees to negotiate arrangements that reflect the particular needs of that workplace. When bargaining works well, workers can secure improved wages and conditions, employers can secure arrangements that support productivity, flexibility and long-term planning, and workplaces can develop solutions that benefit both parties.
This bill also includes practical reforms designed to streamline bargaining processes in circumstances where parties have already established successful bargaining relationships. We don't want things to get bogged down. We want to make sure that, if people can come to the table, they can find fair outcomes.
Rather than requiring workers and employers to repeat unnecessary procedural steps over and over, these changes allow bargaining to proceed more efficiently, where appropriate safeguards are already in place. This is not about changing the fundamental principles of bargaining. It's about reducing unnecessary duplication and allowing parties to focus on reaching agreements and, again, to focus on reaching outcomes.
This bill also includes a practical change to bargaining arrangements. Where employers and workers have already successfully negotiated a supported bargaining agreement and wish to bargain for a replacement agreement covering substantially the same cohort, the legislation creates a more streamlined pathway to recommence that bargaining. At present, parties can be required to repeat that again and again.
It means that additional administrative burden for employers, employee representatives and the commission can come off. The reforms before the House recognise that, where bargaining relationships are already established and already functioning effectively, unnecessary procedural duplication serves little purpose. Instead, parties should be able to focus their efforts on negotiating those outcomes.
This is a practical example of the broader purpose of this bill: protecting rights and maintaining safeguards while ensuring that the workplace relations system operates as efficiently as possible. The bill also removes an outdated restriction that currently prevents the Commonwealth from considering enterprise agreements when making certain procurement and funding decisions.
Importantly, this does not require businesses to have enterprise agreements; nor does it override value-for-money requirements. This bill forms part of the Albanese Labor government's broader commitment to supporting workers. That's in our blood; it's in our DNA.
We have always been the party that backs workers in when they need it most, and strengthening job security and helping Australians to manage cost-of-living pressures is an important part of that. That's why this government has strengthened job security. It's why we delivered same job, same pay.
We've criminalised wage theft. We've introduced the right to disconnect. We've expanded paid parental leave.
In one week's time, mums and dads across this nation will be able to access 26 weeks of paid parental leave. These reforms are designed to help Australians, and, at its core, this bill is about ensuring that Australia's workplace relations system continues to work as intended and continues to work for everyday working Australians.