On 26 June 2014, the Minister for Employment made an instrument to revoke the Commonwealth Cleaning Service Guidelines (‘the Guidelines’). The Minister previously revoked the Fair Work Principles (‘the Principles’) as part of the Autumn 2013 Repeal Day; the revocation takes effect from the commencement of the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act 2013 on 1 July 2014. The aim of the Principles was to ensure that government procurement decisions are consistent with the Fair Work Act 2009 (Fair Work Act), and required organisations tendering for Government contracts to declare their compliance with the Fair Work Act. The Guidelines contained mandatory requirements that relate to Australian Government Cleaning Services tenders and contracts, and paying employees above award rates of pay and a number of cleaning services industry workplace relations mandatory practices. The revocation of the Principles and the Guidelines is expected to reduce compliance costs for firms tendering for and providing goods and services to the Commonwealth Government. The reduction in costs is estimated to be in the order of $5 million per year over 10 years. The proposal has been assessed as likely to have a measurable but contained impact on the economy with minor impact on competition. An options-stage Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared by the department and was published on 18 March 2014. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS) was prepared and certified by the department under the March 2014 Australian Government best practice regulation requirements, and has been assessed as adequate by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR). The OBPR advises that the process followed by the department and the level of analysis contained in the RIS was consistent with best practice, and the OBPR has agreed to the regulatory cost saving estimate.
- Revoke Fair Work Principles RIS – RTF version [
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