Employees in Local Governments across Western Australia are now covered by the State Government’s employment laws, following their movement from the Commonwealth employment laws on 1 January this year.
The State Government originally flagged the change in 2018 following an independent review that claimed there was a significant legal doubt about whether Local Governments could validly operate under the Commonwealth’s laws.
The change now in place affects 137 Local Governments, eight Regional Local Governments and 23,000 employees, as Western Australia joins Queensland, South Australia and NSW in regulating their Local Governments under State-based employment laws.
Announcing the change, the Minister for Industrial Relations, Bill Johnston said the Government had delivered on an important election commitment to ensure Local Governments were covered by State employment laws, not laws made in the Federal Parliament in Canberra.
“Western Australia’s employment laws were modernised in 2022 to strengthen protections for workers,” Mr Johnston said.
“Local Government employers and employees now enjoy access to a strong, locally-based independent umpire in the form of the Western Australian Industrial Relations Commission.”
The Minister said he recognised that while the move would be a significant change for both employers and employees in Local Government, the end result would be the removal of legal uncertainty surrounding employment arrangements in a very important area.
