During 2007, the Australian Labor Party (ALP) announced their intension to abolish the ABCC. After considerable lobbying by Master Builders, the ALP amended their position and announced that they would keep the ABCC in place until 31 January 2010. After this date, the Federal Government would replace the ABCC with a specialist division for the building and construction industry within Fair Work Australia.
The ABCC has remained in place as promised and has continued to perform as an effective regulator. Whilst the ABCC has been effective in tackling the lawlessness in a difficult industry since 2005, there has been a worrying increase in the number of incidences occurring on building sites as the end of the ABCC draws closer.
The Victorian construction industry is very concerned about a return to the ‘bad old days’ when the new body commences operations. According to a Master Builders survey, when commercial construction builders were asked what would happen if the ABCC were removed:
- 78.5 per cent of commercial builders believe that productivity would decrease;
- 68 per cent of commercial builders believe that workplace harmony would decrease; and,
- 68 per cent of commercial builders believe that unauthorised work stoppages would increase.
In October 2008, the Federal Government commenced a review of the ABCC and its replacement. The Honourable Justice Murray Wilcox QC was appointed to undertake the review. The Transition to Fair Work Australia for the Building and Construction Industry (the Wilcox Review), released 3 April 2009, recognised that while the industry had improved, there was still lawlessness, particularly in Victoria and Western Australia and that “the ABCC’s work is not yet done” (Section 3.23).
Based on the findings of the Wilcox Review, the Federal Government introduced the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2009 into the Australian Parliament on 17 June 2009. For more information on the Bill, please click here.
If the Bill is passed in its current form, it will pave the way for a return to the ‘bad old days’ – a time where wildcat stoppages and industrial unrest prevailed. As it stands, the proposed legislation seeks water down the investigatory and compliance powers that the ABCC currently holds. In addition, the Bill seeks to dramatically reduce the maximum level of penalties for breaches of the law. This will reduce the incentive for some industry participants to obey with the law and with reduced investigatory powers, will make it harder for the ABCC to investigate and prosecute illegal activity. This substantial weakening of the ABCC’s powers raises many questions about its ability to effectively police an industry which has had such a violent and turbulent past.
If this sort of development worries you, click here to help stop this threat from becoming a reality.
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