Labour Hire Change Targets 67,000 Underpaid Workers

Minister for Employment Tony Burke during a press conference in the Mural Hall at Parliament House in Canberra, Australia, on June 17, 2020. Sam Mooy/Getty Images

A crackdown on the use of labour-hire workers paid less than employees is tipped to boost pay rates for roughly 67,000 workers.

Employment relations minister Tony Burke said the economic impact of the targeted reforms—isolated to workplaces covered by bargained rates of pay—would be negligible, contrary to industry fears.