Occupational Health & Safety and Workers' Compensation

The ACTU urges all levels of Government to act on the findings of the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program to ensure the failings that led to workplace deaths are never repeated. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said it was essential that reforms are put in place to ensure…

The possible abolition of Australia's Asbestos Safety and Eradication Agency will put lives in danger, unions warn. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick called on the Abbott Government to stick to its pre-election commitment and continue supporting the agency including ensuring it is adequately funded into the future. "Demonstrating that the…

The rate of work injuries and deaths in the workplace will increase - bringing loss and heartbreak to families and communities - should life-saving regulations be rolled back nationally as they have been in Queensland. ACTU President Ged Kearney said, today, Worker's Memorial Day, was a sobering reminder of why…

An employer push to stop the Fair Work Commission (FWC) from considering bullying that occurred before the new laws came into effect demonstrates heartless disregard for workers and lets employers off the hook, said unions. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said the new laws – which came into effect on…

The ASU's success in negotiating the world's first enterprise agreement clause supporting victims of domestic violence in 2010 has been recognised in a recent academic study as an instance of achieving equality measures through bargaining. The study by Professor Marian Baird of Sydney University considered the circumstances around the ASU's…

The USU/ASU has welcomed the most recent decision by Fair Work Commission which re-affirms the Commission's original decision to disallow an employer from conducting on-site urine testing on its employees for the detection of drugs. The employer Endeavour Energy had initiated the most recent case in an attempt to get…

Unions are concerned that ten years after asbestos was banned in Australia importation continues. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said the goal of making Australia asbestos free by 2030 was unlikely at this rate. "December 31 was the tenth anniversary of a ban on asbestos following clear and irrefutable evidence…

Unions welcome new laws that came into effect yesterday on 1 January 2014 that give bullied workers a way to solve stressful, damaging and sometimes deadly workplace bullying issues. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said unions have been fighting for these changes for over a decade. "We put bullying on…

The ACTU is urging the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Program to focus on what can be done to increase safety for workers. ACTU Assistant Secretary Michael Borowick said the Royal Commission presented an opportunity to toughen workplace safety laws to help reduce the number of unnecessary injuries and…

The ACTU calls on the Queensland Government to put the safety of workers first, not the money-making interests of their business mates. The Work Health and Safety and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2013 (QLD) – which will be considered by Safe Work Australia on Friday – calls for national laws…