Untitled document

Outworkers (Improved Protection) (Amendment) Act 2005

Act No. 9/2005

table of provisions

Section  Page

1.Purpose

2.Commencement

3.Principal Act

4.Definitions

5.Liability of apparent employer

6.Liability of principal contractor for remuneration payable to outworkers of subcontractor

7.New Division 3 inserted in Part 2

Division 3—Minimum Conditions

14A.Minimum conditions for outworkers

8.Updating a reference to the Commonwealth Act

9.Regulations

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Endnotes

Outworkers (Improved Protection) (Amendment) Act 2005

[Assented to 27 April 2005]

The Parliament of Victoria enacts as follows:

1.Purpose

The main purpose of this Act is to amend the Outworkers (Improved Protection) Act 2003 to ensure that outworkers receive the minimum entitlements contained in any relevant federal awards.

2.Commencement

This Act comes into operation on 1 August 2005.

3.Principal Act

In this Act, the Outworkers (Improved Protection) Act 2003 is called the Principal Act.

4.Definitions

(1)In section 3 of the Principal Act—

(a)before the definition of "clothing work" insert—

' "clothing industry" means the industry including wholly or partly designing, preparing, manufacturing, processing or finishing, or wholly or partly controlling, managing or supervising the designing, preparing, manufacturing, processing or finishing, of any type of garment, apparel or articles (such as aprons, all descriptions of whitework, including napery, sheets, pillow slips, pillow shams, diapers, handkerchiefs, towels, chenille bedspreads, mosquito nets, chenille bath mats, and when made into clothing or whitework establishment cot covers, blankets or bedspreads, scarves, collars, cuffs, neckware, muffs, rugs and mats such as are made in the establishment of a furrier from furred, haired or woollen skins, hats, caps, bonnets, berets or any other kind of headwear, umbrellas or parasols or the like), whether inside or outside of a factory or workroom;';

(b)in the definition of "outworker", omit "for someone else's business,".

(2)At the end of section 5 of the Principal Act insert—

"(2)For the avoidance of doubt, a reference in this Division to remuneration includes a reference to any amount to which an outworker is entitled in accordance with section 14A(1).".

5.Liability of apparent employer

After section 7(4) of the Principal Act insert—

"(5)An apparent employer cannot refer an unpaid remuneration claim under this section to a person that is a business or body corporate owned or managed by the outworker who made the claim.".

6.Liability of principal contractor for remuneration payable to outworkers of subcontractor

(1)In section 12(4) of the Principal Act, after "this section" insert "as if a reference in those sections to an employer were a reference to the principal contractor".

(2)After section 14(2) of the Principal Act insert—

"(3)A principal contractor is not excluded from liability for the payment of any remuneration of a relevant outworker under section 12 only because the subcontractor is a business or body corporate owned or managed by the relevant outworker.".

7.New Division 3 inserted in Part 2

After Division 2 of Part 2 of the Principal Act insert—

"Division 3—Minimum Conditions

14A.Minimum conditions for outworkers

(1)An outworker engaged by a person is entitled to the same benefits, terms and conditions as those that would apply under any federal award applicable to the clothing industry if the person were bound by the award and the outworker were an employee of the person.

(2)A person who engages an outworker must not provide a condition of employment to the outworker that is less than a condition that would apply under any federal award applicable to the clothing industry if the person were bound by the award and the outworker were an employee of the person.

Penalty:120 penalty units.

(3)An entitlement otherwise conferred by sub‑section (1) or an obligation otherwise imposed by sub-section (2) does not apply if the same kind of entitlement or obligation is conferred or imposed by a federal award or an Act of the Commonwealth.".

8.Updating a reference to the Commonwealth Act

In section 42(3)(b) of the Principal Act, for "conscientious objection certificate under section 267 of the Commonwealth Act" substitute "certificate under section 180 of Schedule 1B to the Commonwealth Act".

9.Regulations

(1)After section 65(1)(a) of the Principal Act insert—

"(ab)requiring employers to provide records referred to in paragraph (a) or copies of them to specified persons or bodies;

(ac)requiring a person to enter a written agreement with an outworker before engaging the outworker and prescribing matters to be included in that agreement;

(ad)requiring employers to lodge agreements referred to in paragraph (ac) or copies of them with specified persons or bodies;

(ae)requiring employers to give information to outworkers and prescribing the content and manner of giving that information;

(af)requiring persons intending to engage outworkers to be registered with specified persons or bodies;

(ag)providing mechanisms for the resolution of disputes between employers and outworkers;".

(2)In section 65(2) of the Principal Act—

(a)in paragraph (c), for "regulations." substitute "regulations;";

(b)after paragraph (c) insert—

"(d)may confer a discretionary authority or impose a duty on a specified person or body or specified class of person or body.".

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EndnoteS

Minister's second reading speech—

Legislative Assembly: 24 February 2005

Legislative Council: 24 March 2005

The long title for the Bill for this Act was "to amend the Outworkers (Improved Protection) Act 2003 to ensure that outworkers receive the minimum entitlements contained in any relevant federal awards and for other purposes."