Wednesday, 29 July 2026

 Natalie SULEYMAN (St Albans – Minister for Veterans, Minister for Small and Family Business, Minister for Employment, Minister for Tourism) (14:09): I rise to update the house on how we are supporting safety for retail and transport workers in Victoria. Yesterday the Premier said that Victoria’s economy is a partnership between business, government and working people, and that is why today we have introduced nation-leading workplace protection orders. It is pretty simple: when workers and business owners go to work, they deserve to be safe. I speak to businesses every single day, from cafes and restaurants to family businesses and of course stakeholders. They work hard, they appreciate their customers and they provide the goods and services our communities rely on. Much too often, staff are experiencing abuse, harassment or violence at work. This is unacceptable, and it must stop.

That is why today our government is introducing legislation which will protect business owners and frontline workers with strong new powers to crack down on this behaviour. Retail and transport workers keep Victoria running, and they are often young people starting out in their first jobs – like our Premier’s first job at Kmart – and repeated abuse has real and lasting impacts. We know that the Australian Retail Council, business groups, workers and unions have all told us that these new protections will keep workers and workplaces safe. These reforms are the next step in Labor’s crackdown on violence against hardworking Victorians. The message is simple: everybody deserves to be safe at work, and the Carroll Labor government is committed to community safety for every worker and every workplace.