Summary

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The majority voted in favour of a motion to agree with the main idea of the bill. In parliamentary jargon, they voted to read the bill a second time.

What is the bill's main idea?

According to the bills digest:

The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 will amend the Fair Work Act 2009 and related legislation to enact a wide range of measures, most notably including:

  • introducing a new definition of casual employee and an employee choice pathway for eligible casual employees to change to permanent employment, if they wish to do so

  • effectively reinstating the ‘multi-factorial’ test previously applied by courts and tribunals to determine if a worker is an employee or independent contractor

  • preventing enterprise agreement wages from being undercut by the use of labour hire (‘same job, same pay’)

  • introducing a new criminal offence for intentional wage theft

  • allowing the Fair Work Commission to set minimum standards for some (but not all) ‘gig economy’ workers and road transport industry workers

  • introducing a new Commonwealth criminal offence of industrial manslaughter

  • introducing a rebuttable presumption that a first responder’s employment significantly contributed to the contraction of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and

  • various other measures related to prohibiting discrimination against employees who have been, or continue to be, subjected to family and domestic violence; changing the defence to ‘sham contracting’ from a test of ‘recklessness’ to one of ‘reasonableness’; and a range of other workplace relations measures, which are not examined in this Digest.

Votes Passed by a small majority

Nobody rebelled against their party.

Party Votes
Australian Greens (75% turnout) 3 Yes 0 No
Adam Bandt Melbourne Yes
Stephen Bates Brisbane Yes
Elizabeth Watson-Brown Ryan Yes
Max Chandler-Mather Griffith Absent
Australian Labor Party (96% turnout) 74 Yes 0 No
Anne Aly Cowan Yes
Michelle Ananda-Rajah Higgins Yes
Chris Bowen McMahon Yes
Tony Burke Watson Yes
Matt Burnell Spence Yes
Linda Burney Barton Yes
Josh Burns Macnamara Yes
Mark Butler Hindmarsh Yes
Alison Byrnes Cunningham Yes
Jim Chalmers Rankin Yes
Andrew Charlton Parramatta Yes
Lisa Chesters Bendigo Yes
Jason Clare Blaxland Yes
Sharon Claydon Newcastle Yes
Libby Coker Corangamite Yes
Julie Collins Franklin Yes
Mary Doyle Aston Yes
Mark Dreyfus Isaacs Yes
Justine Elliot Richmond Yes
Cassandra Fernando Holt Yes
Mike Freelander Macarthur Yes
Carina Garland Chisholm Yes
Steve Georganas Adelaide Yes
Andrew Giles Scullin Yes
Patrick Gorman Perth Yes
Luke Gosling Solomon Yes
Julian Hill Bruce Yes
Ed Husic Chifley Yes
Stephen Jones Whitlam Yes
Ged Kearney Cooper Yes
Matt Keogh Burt Yes
Peter Khalil Wills Yes
Catherine King Ballarat Yes
Madeleine King Brand Yes
Tania Lawrence Hasluck Yes
Jerome Laxale Bennelong Yes
Andrew Leigh Fenner Yes
Sam Lim Tangney Yes
Richard Marles Corio Yes
Zaneta Mascarenhas Swan Yes
Kristy McBain Eden-Monaro Yes
Emma McBride Dobell Yes
Louise Miller-Frost Boothby Yes
Brian Mitchell Lyons Yes
Rob Mitchell McEwen Yes
Daniel Mulino Fraser Yes
Shayne Neumann Blair Yes
Brendan O'Connor Gorton Yes
Clare O'Neil Hotham Yes
Alicia Payne Canberra Yes
Graham Perrett Moreton Yes
Fiona Phillips Gilmore Yes
Tanya Plibersek Sydney Yes
Sam Rae Hawke Yes
Gordon Reid Robertson Yes
Dan Repacholi Hunter Yes
Amanda Rishworth Kingston Yes
Tracey Roberts Pearce Yes
Michelle Rowland Greenway Yes
Joanne Ryan Lalor Yes
Marion Scrymgour Lingiari Yes
Bill Shorten Maribyrnong Yes
Sally Sitou Reid Yes
David Smith Bean Yes
Anne Stanley Werriwa Yes
Meryl Swanson Paterson Yes
Susan Templeman Macquarie Yes
Matt Thistlethwaite Kingsford Smith Yes
Kate Thwaites Jagajaga Yes
Maria Vamvakinou Calwell Yes
Tim Watts Gellibrand Yes
Anika Wells Lilley Yes
Josh Wilson Fremantle Yes
Tony Zappia Makin Yes
Anthony Albanese Grayndler Absent
Pat Conroy Shortland Absent
Peta Murphy Dunkley Absent
Rebekha Sharkie Mayo Centre Alliance No
Mark Coulton Parkes Deputy Speaker No
Andrew Wilkie Clark Independent Yes
Russell Broadbent Monash Independent No
Kate Chaney Curtin Independent No
Zoe Daniel Goldstein Independent No
Andrew Gee Calare Independent No
Helen Haines Indi Independent No
Monique Ryan Kooyong Independent No
Sophie Scamps Mackellar Independent No
Allegra Spender Wentworth Independent No
Zali Steggall Warringah Independent No
Kylea Tink North Sydney Independent No
Dai Le Fowler Independent Absent
Bob Katter Kennedy Katter's Australian Party Absent
Liberal National Party (100% turnout) 0 Yes 9 No
Angie Bell Moncrieff No
Colin Boyce Flynn No
Cameron Caldwell Fadden No
Garth Hamilton Groom No
Henry Pike Bowman No
Phillip Thompson Herbert No
Andrew Wallace Fisher No
Andrew Willcox Dawson No
Terry Young Longman No
Liberal Party (94% turnout) 0 Yes 31 No
Karen Andrews McPherson No
Bridget Archer Bass No
Scott Buchholz Wright No
David Coleman Banks No
Peter Dutton Dickson No
Warren Entsch Leichhardt No
Paul Fletcher Bradfield No
Ian Goodenough Moore No
Andrew Hastie Canning No
Alex Hawke Mitchell No
Luke Howarth Petrie No
Julian Leeser Berowra No
Sussan Ley Farrer No
Nola Marino Forrest No
Melissa McIntosh Lindsay No
Zoe McKenzie Flinders No
Scott Morrison Cook No
Ted O'Brien Fairfax No
Gavin Pearce Braddon No
Melissa Price Durack No
Rowan Ramsey Grey No
James Stevens Sturt No
Michael Sukkar Deakin No
Angus Taylor Hume No
Dan Tehan Wannon No
Bert Van Manen Forde No
Ross Vasta Bonner No
Aaron Violi Casey No
Jenny Ware Hughes No
Rick Wilson O'Connor No
Keith Wolahan Menzies No
Tony Pasin Barker Absent
Jason Wood La Trobe Absent
National Party (83% turnout) 0 Yes 10 No
Sam Birrell Nicholls No
Darren Chester Gippsland No
Pat Conaghan Cowper No
David Gillespie Lyne No
Kevin Hogan Page No
Michelle Landry Capricornia No
David Littleproud Maranoa No
Michael McCormack Riverina No
Llew O'Brien Wide Bay No
Keith Pitt Hinkler No
Barnaby Joyce New England Absent
Anne Webster Mallee Absent
Milton Dick Oxley Speaker Absent
Totals (93% turnout) 78 Yes – 62 No