Inquiry into Penalty Rates and Fair Pay

Terms of Reference

On 9 March 2017 the Legislative Assembly agreed to the following motion:

That —

1. A select committee be appointed to:
   1. inquire into and report on the economic and social impact and cost of the Fair Work Commission's recent decision to cut penalty rates to thousands of Victorian Workers, particularly in relation to:
      1. Victoria’s lowest paid, award reliant workers;
      2. women;
      3. young workers;
      4. workers in regional Victoria;
      5. single parents;
      6. the detrimental effect on the Victorian economy;
      7. workers who may be indirectly affected as they experience the flow on effects of this decision in their enterprise bargaining, across different industries, or who work in industries which may be targeted next; and
   2. also investigate possible safeguards and federal legislative changes, that can be advocated for at the Commonwealth, State and Territory Ministers for Workplace Relations and Work Health and Safety meeting, to protect vulnerable Victorian workers and all other relevant matters; and —
2. The Committee be required to present an interim report no later than 21 June 2017 and a final report no later than 1 September 2017.*

* The reporting date was extended to 30 June 2018 by resolution of the Legislative Assembly on 20 June 2017.

Terms of Reference - Inquiry into Penalty Rates and Fair Pay(PDF 260.13 KB)