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Audio Child labour laws needed in SA

Caroline Winter

Concerns have been raised about the working conditions of young people in the retail and service industries. Unions and parents want the health and safety of young people in the work place taken far more seriously, particularly in South Australia and Tasmania, the only two jurisdictions in the country without specific child labour laws.


TONY EASTLEY: As the holiday season spending goes into overdrive, concerns have been raised about the working conditions of young people in the retail and service industries.

Unions and parents want the health and safety of young people in the workplace taken far more seriously.

South Australia and Tasmania are the only two jurisdictions without specific child labour laws and a legal expert says that makes Australia an international embarrassment.

Caroline Winter has our report.

CAROLINE WINTER: It's that time of year when the spending frenzy reaches fever pitch.

(Sound of cash registers)

Many of those behind the tills are young people, earning some pocket money over the school holidays. But some are being exploited by their employers.

"Anne", who doesn't want to give her real name, says her 16 year old daughter was one of them.

ANNE: She was being quite considerably underpaid and didn't feel confident enough to question that. There was the other issue that she was expected to be on call, she was asked to come in if the business was busier than what they predicted.

CAROLINE WINTER: Anne says the employer wasn't paying her daughter penalty rates and bullied the staff.

ANNE: She said the manager often told them that he was annoyed by their lack of availability and that he would be putting people off if they were not available and so there was always this sort of sense of pressure, she described it as pressure.

CAROLINE WINTER: Anne got in touch with the Young Workers Legal Service in South Australia. Turns out she was one of the estimated 400 calls they get every year about youth employment matters.

Nikki Candy is the organisation's coordinator.

NIKKI CANDY: At the moment South Australia is the only state in Australia that doesn't have some kind of formal legislation specifically protecting child workers.

CAROLINE WINTER: She says stories of bullying, sexual harassment, underpayment of wages and unfair dismissal are commonplace. Nikki Candy says specific legislation is needed for workers under the age of 18.

NIKKI CANDY: What it would do is set a minimum age for young people in the workplace and most importantly it would have provisions that would allow a civil penalty to be available to prosecute employers where they expose children to work that is harmful and contrary to their health and safety.

CAROLINE WINTER: She also wants restrictions on how late young people can work.

A bill specifically covering children was introduced into the South Australian parliament in 2011 but has since lapsed.

John Rau is the State's Industrial Relations Minister. He says there are already a raft of state and federal regulations in place to safeguard young workers.

(To John Rau): Every other state and territory bar South Australia and Tasmania has a minimum working age for children. Is that something that we should not look at?

JOHN RAU: Well I'm very happy to look at it and intend to do so in the new year. But we don't want to be in a position where we wind up saying that a family business, the children are unable to help in the business, simply because we pass a law which captures people we don't intend to capture.

CAROLINE WINTER: The lack of child labour legislation in those two jurisdictions has some worried it reflects badly internationally.

Professor Rosemary Owens is from Adelaide University's law school.

ROSEMARY OWENS: This is probably one of the reasons that's held Australia back from ratifying the minimum age convention. It's really I think an international embarrassment that Australia has not ratified that convention.

CAROLINE WINTER: She says 165 countries have signed up. The United States, Canada and New Zealand are also among those that haven't.

ROSEMARY OWENS: It sets a minimum age which must be 15 or the school leaving age. So the idea is that work shouldn't interfere with education for young children. But the convention is flexible, which means that it shouldn't hinder any country really in signing up.

TONY EASTLEY: Professor Rosemary Owens from Adelaide University. The reporter there, Caroline Winter.