Promise check: Legislate to make wage theft a criminal offence

At the 2022 election, Labor promised to legislate to make wage theft a criminal offence. Here's how that promise is tracking.

(Image by ABC News: Sam Ikin)

On December 7, 2023, the government passed laws criminalising wage theft at a federal level. However, experts told the promise tracker that elements of the new law were weaker than Victoria's existing wage theft law and that the federal law did not contain a provision to prevent state laws from being overridden, despite promises to the contrary. As it cannot be determined with certainty which laws would prevail without a court ruling, on February 27, 2024, this promise was deemed to be stalled.. See the full explanation

As opposition leader, Anthony Albanese was critical of the previous government's effort to amend the Fair Work Act 2009.

A bill first introduced into parliament in 2020 sought to "assist Australia's recovery from COVID-19" and "to improve the operation and usability of the national industrial relations system".

In a 2020 speech to parliament during the bill's second reading, Mr Albanese said the bill "weakens wage theft punishments in jurisdictions where wage theft was already deemed a criminal act".

After the Coalition removed wage theft provisions from the bill in 2021, Mr Albanese said:

"They ripped out the wage theft provisions that were supported by everyone in the Senate and in the House of Representatives in an immature, vindictive act of spite. Even after the Prime Minister stood before this House and spoke about wage theft and how important it was, instead of having a separate bill before the House to deal with it, what they did was rip that out."

In May 2021, following the passage of the slimmed-down bill, Mr Albanese promised to criminalise wage theft in a joint statement with then shadow minister for industrial relations, Tony Burke.

"An Albanese Labor Government will protect Australian workers from exploitation and rip-offs by criminalising wage theft," the statement said.

"A Labor Government will consult with states and territories, unions and employers to develop laws that criminalise wage theft nationwide.

"Labor's laws will not water down any wage theft laws already passed by the states."

Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia have all legislated to tackle wage theft in some way.

Only Labor will deliver a future made in Australia and criminalise wage theft.#auspol
— Tony Burke (@Tony_Burke) April 23, 2022

The promise was also contained in Labor's policy platform:

"Labor will consult with unions, States and Territories, and employer groups. Labor's federal wage theft laws will not override existing State and Territory laws where they currently operate."

Assessing the promise

If legislation passes through both houses of parliament with the effect of making wage theft a criminal offence at a national level, and does not override or water down existing state wage theft laws, this promise will be considered delivered.

Here's how the promise is tracking:

19 May 2023

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RMIT University acknowledges the people of the Woi wurrung and Boon wurrung language groups of the eastern Kulin Nation on whose unceded lands we conduct the business of the University. RMIT University respectfully acknowledges their Ancestors and Elders, past and present. RMIT also acknowledges the Traditional Custodians and their Ancestors of the lands and waters across Australia where we conduct our business - Artwork 'Sentient' by Hollie Johnson, Gunaikurnai and Monero Ngarigo.

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Promise check: Legislate to make wage theft a criminal offence