The Australian Building and Construction Commissioner Leigh Johns today announced he has established a Sham Contracting Research Advisory Committee.
“The establishment of the committee is an important first step in promptly responding to the recommendations outlined in the Sham Contracting Inquiry Report 2011, which was released on 29 November 2011,” said ABC Commissioner Leigh Johns.
“The Research Advisory Committee is made up of eight experienced people coming from academia and industry, and is chaired by Monash University Associate Professor Dr Anthony Forsyth.”
“I am pleased the committee members have made themselves available to assist the building and construction industry to develop a more accurate picture of sham contracting. The research that comes out of this process will be made public and available to all stakeholders.”
The ABCC’s Sham Contracting Research Advisory Committee members are:
- Anthony Forsyth (Chair), Associate Professor, Monash University
- Jim Simmonds, Disputes Panel Chair, Electrical Contractors
- Richard Calver, National Director Industrial Relations, Master Builders Association
- Jim Barrett, Executive Director, Australian Constructors Association, Director Construction and Infrastructure, Australian Industry Group
- Glenn Simpson, General Counsel, Housing Industry Association
- Andrew Stewart, Professor of Law, University of Adelaide
- Peter Gahan, Associate Professor, Monash University (Melbourne University Professor from February 2012)
- Cathy Cato (Secretariat), Director Legal (Vic), ABCC
The committee, which sat for the first time on 19 December 2011, will formulate the terms of reference for the request for tender for independent research into sham contracting in the building and construction industry. It will then sit as the Tender Evaluation Committee to consider the applications, in accordance with Commonwealth Government procurement guidelines, and make a recommendation to the ABC Commissioner.
“It is in the interests of everyone in our industry that we eliminate sham contracting.”
Mr Johns said “Its continuing existence adversely affects decent employers who face an invidious choice of either joining in the indecency of sham contracting or going out of business and it hurts workers through a reduced capacity to enjoy basic conditions of employment, work security and access to formal training”.
Sham contracting occurs when an employer attempts to disguise an employment relationship as an independent contracting relationship, to avoid obligatory rates of pay and other entitlements, and gain an unfair competitive advantage.
For further information, go to: www.shamcontractinginquiry.gov.au