UnionsWA has commented on the release today of a report by the WA Auditor General critical of the licencing for asbestos removal and handling by WorkSafe WA.

UnionsWA has commented on the release of the Mid-Year Financial Projections for 2019-20. The projections indicate improved finances bringing the budget back to a surplus of $2.6 billion. UnionsWA encourages the government to redirect spending to investing in the public sector.

Today Safe Work Australia has published a revised Workplace Exposure Standards for Airborne Contaminants which will include a revised standard for respirable crystalline silica to an average of .05mg/m3 reduced from the current standard of .1mg/m3.

UnionsWA has welcomed the release today by the WA Government of the report of the inquiry into wage theft led by Tony Beech, former Chief Commissioner of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission. The report and response by the government are available online here.

UnionsWA has today welcomed the tabling in the WA Parliament by the McGowan Government of its Bill to modernise workplace health and safety law in WA.  The safety at work of almost all working people in WA, over 1.3 million people, is governed by these laws. 

UnionsWA has today released the results of a major work health and safety survey of over 1,500 West Australians.  The report release anticipates a work health and safety reform Bill that the McGowan Government has committed to introduce into the WA Parliament before it closes for 2019 and current consultations to overhaul existing work health and safety regulations. The survey report can be viewed and downloaded online here:

People with Disability WA Inc. (PwDWA) and UnionsWA have today commented on new West Australian specific data recently released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on the incidence of discrimination faced by people with disability, which includes working people that have acquired an injury, disease or been harmed through employment. You can view Samantha Jenkinson, ED of PwDWA address media in this video:

UnionsWA has welcomed the announcement by the McGowan Government of widespread reductions in TAFE fees to support job skills training in many key areas.

UnionsWA has today released research it has undertaken with Professor Alison Preston that analyses Australian Bureau of Statistics data on duration of job search across regions within WA recently released and over the past decade. Today around 22,000 West Australians have been searching for work for more than a year. The research shows that the duration of job search has risen sharply in WA, but significantly so in Perth North West, Perth North East, Perth South East, Mandurah and the Wheatbelt regions of WA. UnionsWA has called for more to be done to support unemployed job seekers, including increasing the Newstart Allowance and a greater effort by Federal and State governments to grow local jobs.

UnionsWA has today welcomed the announcement by Premier McGowan of measures to improve work health and safety.