2001-2003
Cole Royal Commission
The Cole Royal Commission into the Building and Construction Industry was established in August 2001 and tabled its final report in March 2003.
The Royal Commission found that the building and construction industry was characterised by a widespread disregard for the law, cataloguing over 100 types of unlawful and inappropriate conduct. The Commission also found that existing regulatory bodies had insufficient powers and resources to enforce the law.
2002-2005
Building Industry Taskforce
The Building Industry Taskforce (BIT) was established on 1 October 2002 as an interim body to secure the law in the industry prior to the establishment of the national agency envisaged by Commissioner Cole.
In March 2004 the Interim Taskforce became a permanent taskforce, operating until the establishment of the Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner (ABCC) in October 2005.
Read more about the BIT’s legal cases.
The BIT released two reports on its activities and the environment in which it operated:
2005-2009
Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005
The Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 (BCII Act) was the Government’s legislative response to the Royal Commission.
This legislation established the ABCC as an independent statutory authority.
Office of the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner
In September 2005, the Hon John Lloyd was appointed as the Australian Building and Construction Commissioner.
The ABCC commenced operations on 1 October 2005.
As outlined in the BCII Act, the principle role of the ABCC was to ‘ensure that building work is carried out fairly, efficiently and productively for the benefit of all building industry participants and for the benefit of the Australian economy as a whole’.
Read more about the role of the ABCC and its current activities.
2009-
The Wilcox Report
Justice Murray Wilcox’s report, Transition to Fair Work Australia for the Building and Construction Industry, makes recommendations on the structure and powers of the specialist division that will replace the ABCC.
After extensive consultation, the Wilcox Report was submitted to Minister Gillard on 31 March 2009 and released publicly on 3 April 2009.
A copy of the Wilcox Report can be viewed at the Department of Employment, Education and Workplace Relations - The Wilcox Report.
The Fair Work Act 2009
From 1 July 2009, the Fair Work Act 2009 replaced the Workplace Relations Act 1996.
The FW Act is the cornerstone legislation for workplace relations laws in Australia and includes rules regarding:
terms and conditions of employment
rights and responsibilities of employees and employers
compliance and enforcement rules.
The FW Act also amalgamates the government agencies that currently administer the workplace relations system into two new regulatory bodies – Fair Work Australia (FWA) and the Fair Work Ombudsman (FWO).
More information can be found at the Fair Work Online website.
The ABCC's transition to Fair Work
The Australian Government has introduced the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Amendment (Transition to Fair Work) Bill 2009 to parliament. The purpose of the bill is to establish the Office of the Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate, which will replace the ABCC.
The ABCC will continue to operate until the Building and Construction Industry Improvement Act 2005 is amended.