The SDA is asking the FWC to axe discounted rates for young adults in the retail industry, arguing the limited approach to the issue by a 2008 award modernisation full bench presents "cogent reasons" for a further review.
Former Human Rights Commission President Catherine Branson QC says it is "regrettable" that the draft legislation to consolidate Australia's discrimination laws - which is now being re-assessed - has excluded criminal records as a basis for discrimination complaints to the Commission.
The Federal Government has today tabled proposed amendments to outlaw discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex status, which were foreshadowed in the draft bill to consolidate discrimination legislation.
A bill tabled in Federal Parliament by Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus today extends the scope of the Fair Work Act's general protections to federal public servants who blow the whistle on wrongdoing and maladministration.
The federal government has dumped from its Fair Work Amendment Bill, introduced into parliament this morning, its plan to provide access to FWC arbitration when greenfields bargaining reaches an impasse and for other intractable disputes.
Employer groups have joined forces to lobby the Greens and independent MPs to block the Gillard government's plan to expand access to FWC arbitration of intractable disputes, relying on the Fair Work Act review panel's opposition to the move.
The federal government has sent its draft bill to consolidate discrimination legislation back to the Attorney-General's department for further "detailed" work and refused to put a timeline on when it will put it before parliament, while also announcing it will this week introduce legislation banning discrimination on sexual orientation, gender identity and intersex grounds.
