ACT Government Introduces New Industrial Relations Strategy

The ACT Government has introduced a new strategy aimed at compliance with Industrial Relations Employment obligations. The strategy was pushed by the local branch of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) as part of a national campaign against independent contracting and alleged ‘Sham Contracting’.

The new strategy will come into force on 1 January 2012 and will require any business working on ACT Government-funded projects to be ‘certified’ by and approved auditor on the ACT Shared Services Procurement panel. This will involve businesses subjecting themselves to a compliance audit in order to receive a certificate clearing the way for them to work on projects funded by the Territory Government.

Once certified, it is expected that businesses will be subject to a further full audit conducted on everyone from the head contractor down on ACT Government-funded projects. Businesses will need to be certified annually in order to remain eligible to undertake work. The industry has expressed concern over possible delays and confusion with the introduction of the new system, a matter the local branch raised in a recent meeting with Shared Services Procurement.

Image courtesy of Hawkins Civil Engineering Pty Ltd, Baxter Engineering (ACT) Pty Ltd