Legal
Issue No. 20 - December/January 2005
Part of the Machinery
by Michael Hegarty
New Directions in Industrial Law
With the re-election of the Federal Liberal Government and its new-found strength in the Senate, the Liberal Party has a mandate to enforce its plans to reform the Workplace Relations Act. At the same time, we have before the South Australian Parliament the Industrial Law Reform (Fair Work) Bill 2004 - to reform the South Australian Industrial and Employee Relations Act 1994, the Long Service Leave Act 1987 and the Judicial Administration (Auxiliary Appointments and Powers) Act 1988.
Against this background, a further Bill has been introduced into the State Parliament by Nick Xenophon, the Occupational Health Safety and Welfare (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Bill 2004.
In his press release on 18 October 2004, Nick Xenophon said:
"In 2002, 24 South Australians died as a result of work accidents - and up to 120 more died painful lingering deaths because of industrial diseases like mesothelioma and asbestosis. Current penalties for workplace deaths and serious injury are woefully inadequate.”
This bill has met with a mixed reaction, with opposition from some quarters and support from others. Employer bodies have criticised the bill as misguided and inappropriate, while Union bodies have described it as "timely and much-needed".
The State Government, through the Minister for Industrial Relations, has declined to indicate whether the bill will be supported by the Government, and has stated that there are no plans to introduce industrial manslaughter provisions in the government proposed Safe Work Bill, expected to be introduced later this year. Without government support it is unlikely the Bill will become law.
The Industrial Manslaughter Bill is based upon laws introduced in the ACT in November 2003. It seeks to reinforce the duties and responsibilities of employers to provide a safe and healthy work place.
A charge of manslaughter is an alternative to murder (which is...
