Victoria's Kourakis royal commission into the construction sector has appointed an acting assistant commissioner and already held closed hearings in order to gather confidential information, it revealed at its first official hearing today.
Two silks with backgrounds in building and construction, criminal, administrative and public law are leading the legal team for Chris Kourakis' Royal Commission into crime and misconduct in the Victorian construction industry, ahead of its first hearing.
Incoming CFMMEU construction and general division national secretary Zachary (Zach) Smith will take over from the long-serving Dave Noonan in April, after 15 years with the union and serving as leader and assistant leader of the ACT branch for the past three years.
In findings unlikely to get a good reception in Canberra, the Productivity Commission has come down firmly against the federal government adopting a policy of preferring direct employment in the aged care sector.
A former anti-discrimination commissioner has told a royal commission that targets are the only way to combat persistently low employment rates for workers with disabilities, ahead of major employers fronting a livestreamed hearing this week.
The FWC will hold a directions hearing on Friday into an ANMF bid to add the nursing award to an aged care work value case and win more time to negotiate an agreed position with the Morrison Government and employers, as urged by the Aged Care Royal Commission.
The nurses union says a plan to let faith-based hospital and aged care providers make discriminatory employment decisions based on religion could affect quality of care, while a teachers' union warns of "unanticipated consequences".
As the Commonwealth considers a new funding model that assesses staffing needs for aged care homes, a royal commission paper says more than half the nation's residents are with providers offering an unacceptable number and mix of workers according to a world-leading measurement tool.
