Neil Sands
Workplace Relations Minister Brooke van Velden has signalled that she will accept a parliamentary select committee’s suggested amendments to her controversial Employment Relations Amendment Bill, including tweaks to the “gateway” test for contractors.
Van Velden said amendments proposed by a majority of Education & Workforce Select Committee members would strengthen the bill while keeping its core objectives intact. Labour and Greens members of the committee continue to oppose it and call for it to be dropped.
The highly anticipated select committee report was originally scheduled for release on November 24, but that date coincided with a Supreme Court decision that ruled Uber drivers are employees, not contractors, so the release was moved to December 24.
The committee did not say why its report into the bill – which will effectively override the Supreme Court decision – had been moved again to December 8.
Van Velden said she now expects the bill to pass in early 2026.
“The government remains committed to improving labour market flexibility and helping businesses grow, innovate and employ with confidence,” she said.
The main elements of the bill are the “gateway” test that restricts workers’ ability to challenge their employment status in court, a ban on high-earning employees lodging unfair dismissal claims and tighter rules around personal grievance claims.
The committee suggests raising the threshold for high-earning unfair dismissal...
Subline, the agency, revealed through an official statement on the 22nd that “on November 15 of last year, Nana and her mother were victims of a robbery crime committed by an armed intruder who br...