Australian Workers Union
OrganisationReferenced in 10 bills
Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2022
This bill overhauls Queensland's industrial relations laws following a five-year review. It strengthens workplace sexual harassment protections, introduces minimum pay and conditions for independent courier drivers, updates parental leave to include stillbirth leave and flexible leave options, and requires gender pay gap disclosure during enterprise bargaining.
Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2017
This bill introduces a new criminal offence of industrial manslaughter in Queensland, with up to 20 years jail for employers or senior officers whose negligence causes a worker's death and up to $10 million for companies. It follows a government review prompted by the Dreamworld and Eagle Farm worker fatalities and also creates an independent WHS Prosecutor, expands workplace safety dispute powers to the Industrial Relations Commission, and brings back Workplace Health and Safety Officers.
Electrical Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2024
This bill updates Queensland's electrical safety and workplace health and safety laws based on recommendations from five major reviews. It brings new technologies like e-scooters and battery storage systems under electrical safety regulation, strengthens industrial manslaughter laws to cover deaths of bystanders, makes it easier to prosecute serious safety breaches, and gives worker safety representatives new powers to document hazards.
Holidays and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2019
This bill makes Christmas Eve a part-day public holiday in Queensland from 6pm to midnight. It recognises that Christmas celebrations often begin on the evening of 24 December and ensures workers are either able to refuse work after 6pm or receive penalty rates if they do work.
Jobs Queensland Bill 2015
This bill creates Jobs Queensland, a new independent body that advises the state government on what skills Queensland will need, how to plan for future workforce needs, and how the apprenticeship and traineeship system should work. It is intended to give industry, unions, and regional Queensland a stronger voice in shaping training priorities.
Public Service and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020
This bill reforms Queensland's public service employment laws based on the independent Bridgman Review. It makes permanent employment the default for government workers, gives temporary and casual staff the right to request conversion to permanent roles, and introduces positive performance management principles that must be applied before disciplinary action.
Workers’ Compensation and Rehabilitation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2015
This bill restores the right of injured Queensland workers to sue their employer for damages at common law, even for minor injuries, by scrapping the 5% impairment threshold introduced in 2013. It also treats 12 listed cancers as work-related injuries for long-serving firefighters and stops employers from checking a job applicant's workers' compensation claims history.
Industrial Relations Bill 2016
This bill replaces Queensland's Industrial Relations Act 1999 with an entirely new framework governing work for the state's public service, local councils and Brisbane City Council. It sets new minimum employment conditions, makes collective bargaining the main way to negotiate pay and conditions, introduces paid domestic and family violence leave for the first time, and makes Easter Sunday a public holiday from 2017.
Trading (Allowable Hours) Amendment Bill 2017
This bill rewrites Queensland's shop trading hours rules, replacing dozens of separate orders with a single set of hours written directly into the Trading (Allowable Hours) Act 1990. It allows more shops to open longer and more consistently across the state, adds new types of exempt shops, and protects workers who don't want to work the extra hours.
Hospital and Health Boards (Safe Nurse-to-Patient and Midwife-to-Patient Ratios) Amendment Bill 2015
This bill puts minimum nurse-to-patient and midwife-to-patient ratios into Queensland law for the first time. It amends the Hospital and Health Boards Act 2011 so the government can legally require public hospitals to staff prescribed wards at set ratios, with the initial targets being 1 nurse or midwife for every 4 patients on day shifts and 1 for every 7 at night.