Tuesday, 2 May 2023

On-demand workforce

John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:26): (155) Tonight my adjournment is to the Minister for Industrial Relations in the other place, Minister Pallas, and in doing so I pay tribute to our government’s commitment to protecting insecure workers by delivering new standards and dedicated support services. Over the past few years the gig economy has ballooned in size to include hundreds of thousands of Victorians. The Andrews government has worked hard to ensure that all workers in Victoria are protected, regardless of the type of employment. Something is clear: all workers in Victoria are deserving of protection, regardless of their type of employment. In 2022 the Victorian government took the great step to extend sick pay to Victorian casual and contract workers, guaranteeing five days of sick or carers leave. Our government became the first state government to enact law criminalising wage theft and allocated $6 million to the enforcement of the new rules, something I am proud to have played a part in. The truth is casual and gig workers are particularly vulnerable, as they do not have security in their work, and these actions protect these workers. In 2020 an inquiry into the on-demand workforce created 20 recommendations, which form the basis for the fair conduct and accountability standards. While these standards were implemented as voluntary, there are plans to introduce laws mandating compliance with the standards. The standards aim to better protect Victorian gig workers and ensure accountability and transparency between providers and workers, as well as ensuring compensation for loss of income due to work-related injury.

The Andrews government also announced the establishment of a gig worker support service. The GWSS will provide support for gig workers to ensure they are treated fairly and will advise workers about methods and recourse if their rights are infringed upon. This includes advising workers on their rights and obligations, as well as providing workers with advice about how they could obtain representation and assistance with disputes. I am proud to stand here tonight to say that this service was launched yesterday. With translation and interpreter services on hand, the GWSS will help those who need it most. An estimated 350,000 workers will benefit from this service. As this is an emerging field with many new workers, we must ensure that their rights are protected. While the Victorian government is taking steps to keep up with the rapidly evolving gig economy, there are still many workers who are not protected, due to the fact that they do not know their rights or the providers are willing to exploit them. The action I seek is for the minister to provide me with an update on what actions the government has taken to further protect gig workers and for an update on the success of the GWSS.