14 year-olds on AWAs

A generation of Australians are growing up with fewer rights as a result of the Coalition Government's industrial relations laws, ACTU President Sharan Burrow said.

The Office of the Employment Advocate (OEA) has advised the Senate Estimates Committee that 598 AWA individual contracts were approved for children under the age of 15 from July 2005 until May 2006. This includes many signed under the new industrial relations laws.

The Senate Estimates Committee has also been told another 7779 individual contracts were approved for persons aged between 15 and under the age of 18 and a further 13,269 individual contracts were signed for persons aged 18 and under the age of 21 over the same period.

Ms Burrow said these were "very disturbing figures".

"The figures show thousands of young Australians are...no longer subject to a 'no disadvantage test'," she said.

"Under the new IR laws AWA individual contracts can legally remove award protections like rest breaks, meal breaks, public holiday, weekend and overtime pay without any compensation for workers.

"The Government's workplace agency (OEA) has admitted that 40 per cent of AWA individual contracts registered under the new laws get rid of rest breaks and 63 per cent of AWAs scrap penalty rates and annual leave loading and half get rid of shift allowances, overtime loadings, skills payments and public holiday pay."

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Last Modified: 09 Nov 2006