Delivering Fairness for Working Families
Since coming to office the Rudd Government has implemented the principle of a fair go for all Australians.
We have implemented fairness to Australian workplaces, protected jobs through the Nation Building Economic Stimulus package, addressed cost of living pressures by providing tax cuts, education tax refunds and child care rebates.
These measures demonstrate that at the core of the Rudd Government and at the core of the Australian Labor Party is ‘fairness.’
We understand the scourge of being unemployed and the cost of living pressures families face every day.
Our policies are designed to protect working families, protect jobs, shield Australia from unemployment and help parents balance work and families as best they can.
We are committed to fair workplaces and to policies that promote jobs and local communities.
These measures demonstrate that delivering fairness now and into the future remains our priority.
And that we must remain vigilant in times of global financial crisis and an increasingly out of touch and erratic Opposition.
In recent times fairness for families has been under threat:
First from the Howard Government’s Work Choices laws designed to strip away the working conditions of Australian workers and their families.
And then from the global financial crisis which has placed so many families under pressure right across Australia.
The Rudd Government acted swiftly to rid Australia of John Howard and Tony Abbott’s Work Choices.
And responded quickly and decisively to the global financial crisis with a stimulus package to shield Australian families.
This is in stark contrast to the inaction of the Liberals and Nationals who ignored the cost of living pressures Australians were under by arrogantly proclaiming ‘Australians had never been better off.’
And they remain out of touch even in Opposition with Tony Abbott and Eric Abetz ignoring the clear message delivered by the Australian people at the last election and again stoking the Work Choices fire.
They even opposed the Government’s stimulus package ignoring the threat to employment of the global financial crisis and the reality that across many parts of Australia unemployment is a daily crisis for many Australians.
Our policies by contrast understand this.
Key Policy Points
We understand that employment is at the centre of the wellbeing of families and communities.
That Australians need income security, balanced work and family responsibilities, high living standards across the community as well as an individual sense of wellbeing and of making a contribution.
And that every employee is entitled to be treated with respect and with decency.
These are pillars supporting the policies of the Rudd Government and the Australian Labor Party.
We will keep the economy strong and will continue to provide families with the support they need, when they need it including reducing personal income tax for low to middle income earners.
We have introduced new family friendly working arrangements and are introducing a new paid parental leave scheme to give new parents more time to spend with their new babies in the early months. So mum, dad and the kids get more time together.
We are helping working families with the costs schooling and healthcare through education tax rebates, a new teen dental program and more GP SuperClinics
Some Key Achievements
1. We have Abolished Australian Workplace Agreements - One of the first acts of the Rudd Labor Government was to abolish the Australian Workplace Agreements that threatened the livelihoods of so many.
2. We introduced the Fair Work Act – On 1 July 2009 the Fair Work Act commenced operation, putting an end to the Work Choices era and creating a new fair and flexible framework for workplace relations in Australia. The Fair Work Act balances the need for Australian businesses to be competitive and productive with the need for fairness and decency in our workplaces. The Fair Work Act includes:
- A modern safety net of employment conditions that cannot be stripped away, made up of 10 legislated National Employment Standards and new modern awards;
- Protections from unfair dismissal for Australian workers, with a special stream to meet the needs of small businesses; and
- A new bargaining framework that requires parties to bargain together in good faith.
3. We have set up Fair Work Australia – the Government has created, as promised at the last election, a new workplace umpire – Fair Work Australia – to oversee Australia’s new workplace relations laws. Fair Work Australia commenced operations on 1 July 2009. One of the most important roles for Fair Work Australia will be to oversee Australia’s new good faith bargaining framework.
4. Labor has delivered a national system of workplace relations to take effect on 1 January 2010, with all states except Western Australia agreeing to extend the application of the Fair Work Act to all private sector employers and employees in their State. Coupled with award modernisation, the new national system is a significant economic reform, ending decades of overlap, waste, red tape and confusion about workplace relations laws.
5. We have modernised the award system. After extensive consultation, the Australian Industrial Relations Commission has completed the task of modernising Australia’s award system and has made 122 simple modern awards to replace more than 4 000 complex and overlapping state and federal awards and other instruments. Modern awards will be easy for employers and employees to find, read and apply.
6. We are supporting working families with children through introduction Australia’s first national Paid Parental Leave scheme from 2011.
Other Achievements delivering fairness
- Income Tax Cuts: In the 2008–09 Budget the Government delivered $46.7 billion in income tax cuts for working families and low income earners. The income tax cuts provided for second and third tranches that will come into effect on 1 July 2009 and 1 July 2010 respectively. Together, these three tranches will provide an extra $60 per week for families on a combined income of $100,000 with the primary earner on an income of $60,000.
- A Child Care Rebate: The Government has also committed $4.4 billion over four years to increase the Child Care Rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent, to assist with families’ child care costs. The Government is investing some $16 billion from 2009-10 to 2012-2013 to help around 800,000 families with the costs associated with child care. This is more than a billion a year more than the previous government. We have delivered on our election commitment to increase the Child Care Rebate from 30 to 50 per cent. This has dramatically improved affordability, with recent ABS statistics showing child care costs of parents have fallen by almost 20 per cent over the last year.
- An Education Tax Refund: The Government has provided $4.4 billion for a 50 per cent Education Tax Refund on eligible educational expenses from 1 July 2008, which will benefit 2.7 million children from 1.3 million Australian families. Eligible families can claim up to $750 for each child undertaking primary school studies (that is, a refund of up to $375 per child, per year) and $1,500 for each child undertaking secondary school studies (that is, a refund of up to $750 per child per year). We are making an additional investment of $970 million over five years to deliver on the newly agreed national goal of universal preschool by 2013 for children the year before they go to school.
