Kim O’KEEFFE (Shepparton) (17:20): I rise to speak and make a contribution on the Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Amendment Bill 2026. This bill makes a number of significant changes to the operation of Commonwealth workplace protections in Victoria. It amends both the Fair Work (Commonwealth Powers) Act 2009 and the Victoria Police Act 2013; allows specified Commonwealth protections concerning fixed-term contracts and casual employment to operate for relevant non-executive Victorian public sector and local government employees; extends flexible working and pay security rights to specified public office holders, executives and higher managerial employees; permits law enforcement officers to bargain and workplace determinations to be made about a wider range of employment matters presently excluded from the referral; extends part 3-1 general protections of the Commonwealth act to those newly referred law enforcement matters, while not referring them for the purposes of part 2-3 unfair dismissal; establishes the relationship between the Commonwealth act, future police enterprise instruments and the Victoria Police Act 2013 and the dispute resolution jurisdiction of the Police Registration and Services Board; and expands bargaining rights and workplace protections for law enforcement officers in relation to a number of employment matters that have historically remained outside the Commonwealth workplace relations framework.
Victoria referred a significant proportion of its workplace relations powers to the Commonwealth in 2009; however, that referral was not unlimited. Victoria needs a workplace relations system that provides fairness to employees while also allowing public services and emergency agencies to do their jobs effectively. The challenge with this bill, therefore, is getting the balance right. Certain matters were deliberately excluded because they were regarded as being integral to the state’s constitutional capacity to manage its own public sector workforce and, importantly, its law enforcement agencies. Those exclusions have their origins in constitutional principles considered by the High Court, including Re Australian Education Union; Ex parte Victoria. As a consequence, subsequent Commonwealth workplace reforms have not always applied uniformly to Victorian public sector and local government employees. The bill before us seeks to address some of those gaps. It extends protections relating to flexible working arrangements, pay secrecy, fixed-term contracts and casual employment. These are protections that already apply to many workers within the Commonwealth workplace relations system. There is therefore a clear argument for greater consistency. Workers performing their duties in Victoria should not necessarily receive different workplace protections simply because of the constitutional arrangements applying to their particular employer.
The bill also seeks to address a different set of issues affecting law enforcement officers. It would allow future enterprise agreements and workplace determinations to deal with matters including probation, promotion, transfer, physical or mental fitness, discipline and termination of employment. Matters relating to physical and mental fitness are not simply employment issues when it comes to our police force; they are wellbeing issues. By allowing these matters to be considered through enterprise agreements and workplace determinations, law enforcement officers will have greater opportunities to advocate for fair, transparent and supportive processes regarding their health and fitness for duty. Importantly, this may help foster conversations about early intervention, access to support services, rehabilitation pathways and the protections available to officers when they are experiencing mental health challenges. We ask our police officers to protect our communities every single day, and it is only fair that we ensure there are appropriate workplace mechanisms in place to support them when they need assistance themselves.
Strong mental health support is not only good for individual officers, it is good for policing, good for workforce retention and ultimately good for community safety. We often speak about the physical dangers faced by our police officers, but we do not always acknowledge the psychological toll of their job. Victoria Police’s own reporting shows that there were 538 mental health injuries recorded in 2024–25 alone. A landmark mental health study found that 16 per cent of Victoria Police employees met the symptom criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder, while rates of suicidal thoughts were higher than those seen in the broader community. These statistics remind us that behind every uniform is a person who carries the weight of the traumatic events they witness on behalf of our community. If we expect our police officers to protect us during our most difficult moments, we must ensure they receive the support, care and workplace protections that they need when facing their own challenges.
These are important matters. They are also matters that have historically been excluded from Commonwealth bargaining arrangements because they are closely connected to operational command, integrity and the effective functioning of law enforcement agencies. That is why the safeguards contained in this bill are particularly important. The bill does not simply hand all of these matters over to the Commonwealth system without qualification. There are important exclusions, for example, the expanded referral does not cover uniforms and equipment. It also excludes certain tasking decisions, including temporary transfers associated with emergency or major incidents.
Importantly, the bill preserves a 14-day tasking or deployment exemption, allowing law enforcement agencies to respond to emergencies and major incidents without those immediate operational decisions being compromised by the new industrial framework. There are also protections around transfers associated with disciplinary investigations and certain integrity matters. These safeguards recognise a fundamental principle: workplace rights are important, but law enforcement agencies must retain the capacity to respond quickly and effectively when public safety is at stake. The bill also makes clear that the Commonwealth’s unfair dismissal provisions are not being extended to these newly referred police matters. Instead, the bill extends the Commonwealth’s general protections regime to those matters. That distinction is important and should not be overlooked.
However, while there are legitimate reasons for the reforms contained in this bill, there are also significant issues that this Parliament needs to consider. The first is jurisdictional complexity. We are effectively creating an interaction between the Commonwealth Fair Work Act 2009, the Victoria Police Act 2013, future enterprise agreements and workplace determinations and the Fair Work Commission and the Police Registration and Services Board. The bill contains provisions intended to establish how these different frameworks will operate alongside each other, but legislation that creates multiple overlapping jurisdictions inevitably creates the possibility of disputes about which frameworks apply, which body has jurisdiction and how competing provisions should be interpreted. That is not merely a technical legal issue; it has the potential to create uncertainty for employees, managers and agencies.
The second concern relates to general protections claims. Once promotion, transfer, fitness, discipline and termination decisions fall within the Commonwealth general protections framework, managers and decision-makers will need to exercise considerable care. Their decisions will need to be properly documented, and the reasons for those decisions will potentially receive much greater scrutiny. For organisations such as Victoria Police, where decisions can involve operational requirements, discipline, integrity and public safety, that is a significant consideration.
The third issue is the financial and administrative impact. We do identify that the material before us does not qualify the likely number of additional Fair Work Commission proceedings, the associated legal costs, the additional administrative burden, training requirements or the potential impact on the Police Registration and Services Board. These are reasonable questions. Whenever Parliament changes the industrial relations framework, there will be costs associated with implementation, there will be new obligations, there will be training requirements, there may be additional legal proceedings. and there may be pressure placed on existing dispute resolution bodies. Yet we do not have sufficient qualified information about those impacts.
I also note the consultation undertaken in relation to this legislation. While consultation occurred across sectors, very limited feedback was received beyond support from the Police Association Victoria for provisions affecting its members. For legislation of this significance, particularly legislation involving the intersection of Commonwealth workplace law and Victoria’s policing framework, meaningful consultation is essential. The government needs to ensure that those responsible for implementing these reforms understand precisely how they will operate in practice.
I acknowledge that the bill contains some transitional and savings provisions. In particular the existing Victoria Police enterprise agreement 2025 is preserved, meaning the broader referral will primarily affect future bargaining and future workplace determinations rather than reopening the current agreement. This is a sensible and important safeguard. That position recognises the legitimate policing objectives of the bill. There is merit in seeking greater consistency in workplace protections for Victorian public sector and local government employees. There is no doubt about that. There is also merit in providing law enforcement officers with a fairer bargaining framework and access to appropriate workplace protections. We must remain vigilant about the practical consequences, we must ensure that workplace rights do not inadvertently compromise operational effectiveness, we must ensure that managers and agencies are properly equipped to operate within the framework and we must ensure that jurisdictional uncertainty does not result in unnecessary disputes, costs or delays. Most importantly, Victoria needs a workplace relations system that provides fairness to employees while also allowing public services and emergency agencies to do their jobs effectively. The challenge with this bill therefore is getting that balance right.
