The Australian government is preparing to introduce extensive industrial relations reforms that will, among other things, legally define casual employment and require employers to offer work benefits and the opportunity of permanent employment to casual workers.

The reforms to casual work, released today, are part of an omnibus bill that will be presented to Parliament over the week. Under the proposed changes, employees will be considered casual workers if they are working without a “firm advance commitment” that they will continue to hold the job. Other deciding factors will include the regularity of the work, whether or not the workers have the ability to reject the work, and whether or not they are paid casual loading—the additional hourly pay offered to casual workers, defined in Australia as 15-25 percent of the equivalent permanent hourly rate.

In addition, employers will be required to offer casual workers conversion to permanent work if they have worked for 12 months, at least 6 months of which are regular, and even if the person declines, the employer will have to repeat the offer every 6 months as long as the worker meets the above eligibility requirements.

According to Attorney-General Christian Porter, the reforms are intended to clarify the legal status of casual work and thereby employers' responsibilities towards these workers, with the ultimate objective of encouraging employers to speed up their hiring decisions for this group. “With so many Australians still out of work, or doing fewer hours as a result of the pandemic, we cannot do nothing,” he said.

Australia has about 2.3 million casual workers, who have been very hard hit by the economic downturn. They accounted for over 60 percent of the jobs lost in Australia at the start of the pandemic. On the other hand, more than half of these casual workers have been working regularly for the same employer for at least 6 months—which would make them eligible for offers of permanent employment under the reforms.