In its first nine months of operation, the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) has established itself as an active regulator of the building and construction industry.
The ABCC’s first annual report was tabled in Parliament today. Commissioner John Lloyd said the organisation had improved the workplace relations framework of the building and construction industry by:
- investigating possible contraventions of relevant laws, the National Code of Practice and industrial instruments;
- instituting proceedings against those who contravene the law;
- promoting appropriate standards of conduct; and
- providing advice and assistance to building and construction industry participants.
The ABCC was established through the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) and began operations on 1 October 2005. It absorbed the Building Industry Taskforce which operated from 1 October 2002.
The ABCC is headquartered in Melbourne and has offices in Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Hobart.
ABC Commissioner, John Lloyd made the following statement:
“In our first nine months, the ABCC has been firm, but fair in carrying out our important role.
“We are required to implement the legislation in an impartial manner. Any organisation or person, irrespective of their status or category, who contravenes the law, runs the risk of being investigated and becoming subject to court proceedings.
“I am heartened that evidence of a change in conduct and culture throughout the building and construction industry is emerging and I am confident this trend will continue as the ABCC progresses.”
Annual report highlights:
- An impressive 84 per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by an independent firm said the service provided by the ABCC was particularly helpful while 82 per cent responded they were very satisfied with the ABCC’s service.
- The ABC Commissioner intervened in 21 AIRC proceedings and three appeals to the Full Bench of the AIRC.
- The ABCC had 26 penalty proceedings before the courts in the reporting period and has taken over 19 penalty proceedings that had been initiated by the Building Industry Taskforce (the Taskforce) prior to 1 October 2005.
- The ABCC pursued 125 investigations into suspected contraventions of relevant workplace laws with a further 132 reports subject to preliminary investigation. As at 30 June 2006, the ABCC had finalised 51 investigations and 74 were continuing.
- The major breaches investigated were industrial action (27 per cent), coercion (17 per cent) and agreement/dispute resolution (13 per cent).
- The ABCC recorded 1,310 enquiries between 1 October 2005 and 30 June 2006.
- The ABCC issued 29 notices to attend examinations and answer questions (compliance powers) and 27 examinations were conducted. One person exercised his right to challenge a ruling of the Deputy ABC Commissioner in the Federal Court (Bonan v Hadgkiss).
- The ABCC conducted 189 presentations to approximately 5,500 attendees. Presentations were made to industry groups, associations, individual companies and other organisations in the building and construction industry.
- During May and June 2006, the ABCC in conjunction with the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, conducted a series of free seminars in all capital cities and major regional areas throughout the country. The purpose of the seminars was to inform industry participants about the Code and Implementation Guidelines (the Guidelines), as well as provide information about the role of the ABCC and the impact of WorkChoices on the BCII Act.
- The ABCC produced 10 fact sheets, 40,000 were distributed to building industry participants with an additional 3825 downloaded from the website. The website averaged 14,300 homep age hits a month.
For more information on the ABCC, go to www.abcc.gov.au.