Recent news

Latest items of recent news relevant to Australia as reported in our fortnightly newswire ‘Dernières nouvelles’.

Australia: Fair Work Act changes to casual employment

Changes to the Fair Work Act relating to the facility to convert to permanent employment after 12 months of casual employment have just come into force …

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Australia: Ekka public holiday moved to October 2021

Brisbane’s year Ekka Show Day, a public holiday in that part of Queensland – has been moved to Friday, 18th October 2021 …

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Australia: Victoria’s electric vehicle tax

Company car fleets in Victoria that have turned to electric vehicles now find they are being additionally taxed for their environmental policies …

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Australia: Victoria to ban swastikas as anti-vilification laws strengthened

The Victorian government intends to extend anti-vilification laws to include gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability and HIV/AIDS …

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Australia: Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill 2021

The Sex Discrimination and Fair Work (Respect at Work) Amendment Bill has now been passed by both houses of Parliament and now awaits royal assent …

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Australia: Mandatory vaccination

The battle lines over mandatory vaccination are being drawn, with Qantas and SPC both announcing that they intend to introduce an obligatory vaccination policy covering frontline staff by November …

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Australia: BHP fires 48 workers for sexual harassment at remote mining sites

The mining company BHP has revealed that 48 workers have been dismissed for sexual harassment over the two years to June 2021 in its Western Australian operations …

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Australia: Consultation to increase age limit for Solomon islanders applying for the labour mobility

A public consultation has been conducted into the liberalisation of labour mobility for citizens of the Solomon Islands …

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Australia: Industrial action and the law

The Australian Workers Union has been successfully prosecuted before the Federal Court for requesting an employer to continue paying union members during an unofficial strike …

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Australia: NSW government to consider ‘no jab, no work’ policy as incentive to ease COVID-19 lockdown for businesses

New South Wales (NSW) is moving towards a new “no jab, no work” policy that allows employees to return to work once they are fully protected …

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Australia: High Court clarifies characterisation of casual employees

Employers may generally continue to employ casual workers for a series of assignments without fear that the relationship will be automatically considered as one of employment …

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Australia: Cap removed for Australia’s international students working at supermarkets during lockdown

Supermarkets in States and Territories subject to COVID-19 lockdowns are now allowed to employ international students in excess of the 40 hours per fortnight cap that normally applies …

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Australia: Wage theft now a crime in Victoria

Wage theft is now a criminal offence in Victoria under the Wage Theft Act 2020 …

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Australia: High income threshold now $158,500

There have recently been a number of changes in earnings limits for “non-award covered employees” …

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Australia: Unemployment rate falls despite job losses after JobKeeper ends

When the JobKeeper wage support scheme ended in March 2021, there were 980,000 people left in uncertainty whether their job would continue …

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