C&A: Private Sector Clerical & Administrative

Australian jobs need to be protected from unregulated offshoring

The Australian Services Union (ASU) recently made a Senate submission in support of proposed legislation, the 'Keeping Jobs from Going Offshore (Protection of Personal Information) Bill 2009', that would reduce offshoring in the services industry. Offshoring occurs when companies outsource an in-house service or contract to a company overseas, functions that were previously delivered in Australia.

The proposed legislation does two things to protect Australian jobs and consumers: it requires offshored services disclose their location to Australian consumers and it requires companies obtain written consent from Australian consumers before their personal information is sent offshore.

The ASU submission has been calling for these measures for a number of years and we urge the Government to support this private members bill or similar legislation.

These measures are only part of the solution, and much more is needed to address the problem of offshoring that threatens the Australian services industry.

The ASU submission reiterates the recommendations of the National Institute of Economic and Industry Research (NIEIR) report commissioned by the Services Unions of Australia in 2008 which calls for government leadership and concerted action to ensure the Australian services industry is competitive in the global marketplace. The "Off-Shore and Off Work" report can be found at http://www.asu.asn.au/media/off-shore-and-off-work-nieir-may2008.pdf

In addition, we believe the Government should put their money where their mouth is and support Australian jobs by procuring and contracting with Australian services companies. The Government has significant purchasing power in the market for contracted services. It needs to hold the companies, which it contracts with for services, to account for their activities and the activities of subcontractors or their offshore supply chain.

It seems reasonable that companies (and their sub- contractors) providing services to the Australian Government should abide by Australian law and employment standards.

The recent ASU submission can be downloaded below or found at the Senate Inquiry website here: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/eca_ctte/jobs_offshore/index.htm

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