Talking with Peter Henneken
The Department’s Director-General, Peter Henneken, talks about the new Department of Employment and Industrial Relations’ role, challenges and goals for long-term growth and prosperity in Queensland.
About the creation of the department
Biggest challenge
Responding to labour and skills shortages
Responding to the Work Choices changes
Achievements
Working together
Future priorities
About the creation of the department
We have identified our purpose as improving productivity, equity, safety and participation in Queensland workplaces. For most people, paid employment is their link to prosperity. Fair, safe and decent work is a necessary and important contributor to long-term economic growth and social wellbeing for all Queenslanders.
This department brings together Queensland Government policy and services about work and workplaces with a strong focus on fairness and safety. Our three main business areas are:
- employment – where our focus is on helping those not in the labour market, unemployed or underemployed people into the workforce
- industrial relations – where we focus on improving equity and fairness at work and the contribution this makes to productivity
- safety – both workplace health and safety and electrical safety in the workplace and the wider community.
Without doubt, one of this department’s great assets is its people. Within its first year of operation, the Department of Employment and Industrial Relations has seen some significant changes and I believe we have achieved a great deal. I commend the efforts, energy, and commitment of department’s staff and look forward to continuing to work with them to achieve better outcomes for the people of Queensland.
Biggest challenge
The department faces some significant challenges on several fronts – but I would say the biggest issues are centred around the need to increase workforce participation and equity as a drivers of increased growth.
Currently Queensland has very low levels of unemployment and we know that many industries are already facing skills and labour shortages. Yet there remain pockets of higher unemployment in our communities and significant numbers of potential workers are outside the active labour market. So this forms the basis of our challenge to improve workforce participation in Queensland. If Queensland were to increase its workforce participation rate to a level comparable to higher performing OECD countries, we would add 140,000 people to the workforce. There are over 1 million people outside the Queensland labour market and a significant proportion of them could be targeted for participation.
Greater workforce participation will improve Queensland’s economic position as well as provide benefits for those joining the labour market. A decent job is the best way to participate in the prosperity generated by economic growth.
Responding to labour and skills shortages
Certainly, an adequate supply of appropriately skilled workers is essential for a strong and diversified economy in Queensland. DEIR is responding to the skills shortages in Queensland in three ways.
First, the current shortages and strong economy present an excellent opportunity to increase workforce participation for people not currently in the workforce and others who would like to participate more in the labour market. DEIR employment policy and programs are responding to this need.
As a large and diverse employer, the Queensland Government is also feeling the impact of labour shortages. Against this background, DEIR has an important role in implementing a fair and equitable public sector wages policy as well contributing to initiatives to help the Queensland public sector attract and retain skilled staff.
And thirdly, the department itself is an employer and we face challenges similar to many other employers. Attracting, retaining and developing a workforce that allows us to do our job effectively continues to be an important issue. We have further expanded our workforce development programs, provided our staff with a wide range of wellbeing programs and options to help them balance work and life and revised our attraction and retention policies.
Responding to the Work Choices changes
A significant area of work this year has been the continued response to the federal government’s Work Choices changes. Queensland, together with other state governments, was part of a High Court challenge to the validity of Work Choices. After hearings in 2006, the court found the states’ challenge to be unsuccessful. Since this decision became known, the department has continued its work in protecting Queenslanders through a range of programs – some existing, some refocussed and some new services.
Around 40% of Queensland’s workers remain under the jurisdiction of Queensland industrial law and our industrial relations inspectors are continuing their work in protecting the rights of those workers.
For Queensland workers and employers now covered by the federal system, we have developed new services. For example, our Fair Go Queensland Advisory Service offers independent information and assistance about the impact of Work Choices. To help vulnerable workers, we have provided additional funding to community organisations so they can deliver information, advice and advocacy to Queensland workers disadvantaged by Work Choices.
Our Smart Workplaces program is being developed to encourage an alternative approach to WorkChoices, emphasising the benefits of cooperative workplaces where employers, employees and unions work together to maximise good workplace practices. We are also undertaking more audits and continue to develop work and family policies and information. We will continue to undertake extensive legal, policy and research work into the impacts of Work Choices on Queenslanders.
One of the most significant new initiatives was the creation of the Workplace Rights Office and the Workplace Rights Ombudsman. This new service commenced on 1 July 2007.
Achievements
Safety is a key element in productivity and creating decent work. We have continued our work in implementing the Queensland Workplace Health and Safety Strategy 2004–12 with a strong focus on enhancing safety laws, effective public education programs and targeted compliance and enforcement actions. The rate of work-related injuries has fallen in recent years, however the social and economic costs of work-related injury and disease remain unacceptable.
We have continued to improve electrical safety by delivering information to the community about how to be electrically safe and by setting and enforcing electrical safety standards. Electrical safety in Queensland has improved and the rate of electrical fatalities in Queensland continues to be below the Australian average.
In industrial relations, our responses to Work Choices have helped to protect the wellbeing of Queenslanders and contributed to continued economic growth. We have continued to play a significant role in effective public sector wage bargaining. This year, 26 agreements were finalised.
The unemployment rate in June 2007 was at a record low of 3.4%. The Breaking the Unemployment Cycle initiative, which operated from October 1998 to 30 June 2007, has assisted 175,615 disadvantaged jobseekers and resulted in 124,103 jobs. The Queensland Government's new program, Skilling Queenslanders for Work, as outlined in the Queensland Skills Plan, commenced 1 July 2007.
Working together
DEIR has just over 1000 staff and spent $191 million in 2006-07 to deliver services. The work of our department touches the lives of every Queenslander through electrical safety in homes and the community, workplace equity and safety and our employment programs.
To achieve our goals and contribute to the Queensland Government’s outcomes, we have developed and maintained strong working relationships with a wide range of clients and stakeholders. For example, community groups take a leading role in implementing many of our employment programs.
We have also worked closely with other Queensland Government agencies and interstate jurisdictions to improve service delivery in a wide range of areas. For example, we have worked closely with other Australian jurisdictions to provide greater national consistency in workplace health and safety and workers’ compensation. DEIR also makes effective contributions to the work within the Queensland Government on strategic policy priorities through the work of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Committees.
Future priorities
We have developed a new strategic plan for the department that clearly sets out our plan for the future. To achieve our vision of Economic growth and social wellbeing through fair, safe and decent work, our focus will continue to be on four key areas:
- productive workplaces;
- equitable, fair and safe workplaces;
- workforce participation;
- and balanced regulation.
Our organisational values of commitment to purpose, people, partnership and performance will guide our work.
Last updated 21 July 2009
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