News | 21 March

 As we head into the expected last federal sitting period, it’s now clear that 2024 marked a watershed moment in industrial relations, as both the Government and the Opposition acknowledged the urgent need for action following serious allegations of misconduct, bullying, and intimidation within the CFMEU.

The allegations of serious misconduct and the union’s aggressive industrial tactics had reached a tipping point, prompting swift intervention to restore transparency and accountability.

As the only Fair Work Commission Registered Organisation for civil construction employers, we have heard from our members first-hand that conditions on worksites were deteriorating, with increasing reports of intimidation and violence and provide the five key measures to Restore Civility to Civil Construction.

Whilst there has been some easing of tensions on sites, further allegations and reports made in the media only serve to bring on further changes in industrial and procurement policies to eradicate the coercion, bullying and destructive behaviour.

The Government placed the union’s Construction and General Division under administration, appointing Mark Irving KC as the independent administrator to address these concerns and he is doing the best he can with the High Court decision diminishing his ability to take full action of the administration orders.

The action by the Government to place the union into immediate administration was a critical first step for contractors, however we still need to take further steps to reform the regulatory framework that allowed this culture to flourish.

The Civil Contractors Federation has discussed policy recommendations with the Government, Opposition and the Crossbench. Today, we release our key industrial and procurement policy elements to the wider community as we demand to restore civility to civil construction.

Ahead of the next election, with policies in workplace relations to be released, there is an opportunity for the next Federal Government to continue this momentum of reform and consider the steps that will improve the culture on worksites; to deliver the enabling infrastructure that enables homes, transport and renewable energy projects that voters are calling for.

Over the past year, the Federal Government has co-operated with industry and unions to strike a balance between worker protections and the need for a competitive, productive, and better-regulated construction industry.

The events of 2024 highlighted the need for stronger oversight and balanced industrial relations policies that prevent the misuse of bargaining power while ensuring fair outcomes for workers and businesses alike.

Inevitably the next Parliament must act and introduce strong measures to reform industrial relations to support fair competition, workforce flexibility, and economic growth. We are engaging with parties ahead of the election and in the final sitting weeks of this term putting the reform detail, that we think gets the balance right between businesses, workers and productivity that will improve the culture on every single work site.

The five key measures and the outline paper details that all projects need procurement reform to create greater confidence for taxpayers that civil projects minimise risk of cost blowouts, maximise infrastructure delivery productivity and eliminate conditions for coercion and misappropriation particularly where government funds are administered:

  • Review and amend Procurement Practices: Government procurement practices should be investigated to ensure they do not favour some interests and create unfair barriers to entry for local industry. This will promote a safe, fair, competitive, and sustainable construction industry. Procurement practices should ensure all EAs are registered with the Fair Work Commission.
  • Enterprise Agreements Unlawful Terms: Amend the Fair Work Act to prevent enterprise agreements from including terms requiring subcontractors to comply with the terms and conditions of the employer’s enterprise agreement. These terms remove the right to freedom of association and employee and employer rights to negotiate employment terms and conditions, and cripple small and regional businesses who can’t compete.
  • Fit and Proper Person Criteria: Criteria should be developed outlining what standard must be met for a person to be deemed a fit and proper person to be an officer of a Registered Organisation.
  • Eligibility Test: Amend the Fair Work Act to include an eligibility test for union agreements, administered by the Fair Work Commission, at the time of issuing the Notice of Employee Representational Rights (NERR). If a union is going to be the employee representative, the union bargaining representatives must be the majority representatives. Similar to existing provisions for Greenfields agreements.
  • Work within the Law – Independent Regulator for Contractors and Unions: Establish an independent construction regulator to administer a set of rules for the construction industry with a focus on ensuring all parties, including unions and/ or head contractors are compliant. The regulator needs powers to receive complaints and investigate, including Right of Entry breaches and procurement practices.

Additional non-regulatory measures include:

  • Break down procurement contract sizes: We know that mega multibillion-dollar projects carry a higher risk of cost and schedule blowouts. They are also more vulnerable to potential anti-competitive contractual arrangements between unions and businesses. To mitigate these risks, there is a need to structure projects into smaller contract sizes, particularly for enabling housing and community infrastructure. This approach ensures funding reaches the last kilometre while reducing exposure to unfair practices.
  • Culture Reset: Many of the elements of the five points will force a reset of the construction industry culture, but the next government commits to working with industry to promote a culture reset that provides a safe place of work for all irrespective of their gender, age, and cultural background.

While we recognise that making complex industrial relations reform a central part of an election platform may not be politically advantageous, these issues cannot be ignored.

The next Federal Parliament must address them to create safer, fairer, and more productive worksites for every person in our industry.

Ensuring a balanced industrial relations framework is essential to protecting workers’ rights, supporting businesses of all sizes, and fostering a more sustainable construction sector.

Nicholas Proud, National CEO – Civil Contractors Federation

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