• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • Content Disclaimer
  • Contact Us

Self Employed Australia

"Everyone needs an Advocate"

“Everyone needs an Advocate”

  • Current Advocacy
    • Reforming the ATO
    • Fair Contracts
    • Fixing Disputes/Prompt Payment
    • The ‘Gig’ Economy
  • Past Advocacy
    • Submissions
    • Defending ABN Contractors
    • Work Safety
    • Independent Contractors Act
    • Owner-Drivers
    • International Labour Organisation
    • Independent Contractors: How Many?
  • SEA Submissions
    • Submissions
    • Independent Contractors: How Many?
  • NotAboveTheLaw
    • Robodebt
    • Hotel Quarantine 2020
    • Chemical Fire 2019
  • Be Your Own Boss

Labor’s ‘employee-like’ agenda assaults competition law

May 21, 2023 by Self-Employed Australia

employee-likeWe informed you on 7 May that the Federal government’s anti-small business plan was progressing. It released a Consultation Paper on 13 April requiring submissions by 12 May. We’ve lodged our submission opposing the planned legislation. The submission is here.

Sorry, but the submission is long—yep, 11,000 words.

The reason for the length is that the government’s plan is presented as if it’s a ‘tweaking’ of law and of limited application. It’s not. It’s a massive assault against the very principles and practices of contract that determine your right to be your own boss, to be self-employed. This can only be understood by understanding the detail.

We’ll explain the detail in shorter ‘chunks’ through this and a series of future news alerts. If you have queries, please contact us.

Competition law ‘protects’ self-employed, small business people

Today we cover the grave threats posed to competition policy and law, the jurisdictional authority of the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC), and the right of people in Australia to earn their income as a small business person.

Competition law regulates commercial contracts.

Employment law regulates employment contracts.

  • The government’s plan is to allow employment regulation to regulate commercial contracts.

This is a massive step across a fundamental threshold.

The plan is to legislatively redefine commercial contracts to be employment contracts on the alleged grounds that some self-employed people are ‘employee-like’.

This defies the High Court’s declaration in February 2022 (Personnel Case) that:

  • “The employment relationship with which the common law is concerned must be a legal It is not a social or psychological concept like friendship…”

In effect, the plan is to ‘invent’ a new legislative contract form that is outside common law to thwart common law contract.

This also breaches Australia’s International Labour Organisation obligations where the ILO declared in 2006 that:

  • “National policy for protection of workers in an employment relationship should not interfere with true civil and commercial relationships…”

Competition clash

The provisions will immediately set up a clash between competition law and employment regulation. Specifically, the ACCC and the Fair Work Commission (FWC) will both be required to regulate commercial contracts that have been declared ‘employee-like’, but each with different and opposing public policy objectives. The ACCC to prevent collusion over pricing and ensure competition. The FWC to facilitate price collusion thereby creating the circumstances for anti-competitive behaviour.

This is being done under the pretext that some self-employed people need ‘protections’.

But protections are already in place:

  1. Sham contracting laws in Australia are possibly the strongest in the world.
  2. The Independent Contractors Act outlaws payment below similar pay to an employee.
  3. ‘Beefed up’ unfair contract laws begin in November 2023 and will be handled by the ACCC.
  4. Collective bargaining for the self-employed is already available through the ACCC.
  5. Improved, easier dispute resolution can be made available through small business ombudsmen, etc.
  6. New ‘pay on time’ laws are currently being considered.

We are now undertaking a major advocacy campaign directed at Federal MHRs and Senators. We’ll keep you informed.

Filed Under: 'Insecure Work', Campaigns, Defending the gig economy, Defending the self-employed, Defining Self-employment, Federal politics, Independent contracting, Pay on time, Self-Employed Australia, Self-employment, The Gig Economy, Worker classification

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • SEA historical website January 31, 2024
  • Closed doors January 31, 2024
  • We ask you: Make your views known to independent Senators! — Urgent January 9, 2024
  • We ask Senator Pocock: Does he support the outlawing of self-employment? January 5, 2024
  • Ooops! Common sense turns into double-cross. Trojan Horse December 14, 2023
  • Loophole Update – Common sense at last – Movement! December 7, 2023
  • Dancing with Alice at the Mad Hatter’s tea party – Loophole Bill farce November 29, 2023
  • Thank goodness for the independents! Loophole Bill is a huge PILL November 24, 2023
  • Loophole Bill – State of play November 20, 2023
  • You don’t save something by destroying it! November 13, 2023

Categories

Copyright © 2025 · News Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in