Workplace Laws Too Confusing to Navigate for Well-Meaning Employers: Costello

The former long-serving treasurer says most industrial awards are too complex, and the Productivity Commission is focused on anything but productivity.
Workplace Laws Too Confusing to Navigate for Well-Meaning Employers: Costello
Former Treasurer Peter Costello during the Australian Financial Review (AFR) summit, Investing for Growth, at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney, Tuesday, March 10, 2020. AAP Image/Dean Lewins
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Australia’s industrial relations laws and the awards they produce are overly complex and represent a trap for otherwise well-meaning employers, says Peter Costello.

The country’s longest-serving treasurer, who held the role from 1996 to 2007, told the H.R. Nicholls Society that in many cases it was taxpayers who paid the cost, while the entire nation paid in terms of lost productivity.

Rex Widerstrom
Rex Widerstrom
Author
Rex Widerstrom is a New Zealand-based reporter with over 40 years of experience in media, including radio and print. He is currently a presenter for Hutt Radio.