This information relates to the 2022 Federal Election and may no longer be current. 

Greens Policy Platform – latest announcements

The Greens will give working people more rights and increase wages and outlaw insecure work. 

Millions of people are struggling to keep their head above water, while big corporations are making big profits, and have too much power.

Working people need better rights, higher pay and more secure work. Working people need to be safe at work.
 
The Greens will rewrite the labour laws to give working people more power, outlaw insecure work and increase wages. 

The Greens’ plan will create hundreds of thousands of well paid jobs to make us more self-reliant and sustainable, and help rebuild our arts, entertainment and creative sector

We will improve rights for women, and end the gender pay gap, so workplaces are fairer and safer.

With better rights for working people, we can have a stronger economy and a healthy environment.

Did you know:
Last time the Greens were in balance of power, we pushed the government to improve the rights of working people and increase pay. 


Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, It is time to outlaw insecure work

Secure Work

Job insecurity is rife. Without a secure job, it can be hard to plan your life, pay the bills, or get a home.

During the pandemic, people in insecure jobs lost work eight times faster than those in permanent jobs.

The Greens plan include: 

  • End the insecure work crisis so working people have a secure job they can rely on 
  • Give casual and contract workers access to protections and entitlements to protect rights of all workers. 

Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, A fair go for all workers

Workplace Rights

Billionaires and big corporations continue to increase their profits as working people experienced the slowest sustained wage growth since the Great Depression and our labour laws continue to breach international law.

Right now, big corporations have too much power.

The Greens plan includes:

  • Ensure labour laws reduce inequality in society 
  • Ensure workers are paid, and treated, equally for the same kind of work 
  • Protect the rights of workers and unions
  • End the insecure work crisis 
  • Give workers more bargaining power to increase wages and improve conditions
  • Stop migration laws and free trade deals undercutting local labour laws
  • Ensure the composition of the workforce reflects the population
  • Stop government attacks on working people and their unions
  • Establish an independent workplace commission to enforce labour laws 

Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, No one's earnings should be below the poverty line

Higher Wages

While billionaires and big corporations continue to make super profits, working people are experiencing stagnant wage growth.

The government has no plan to increase wages. 

The Greens plan includes:

  • Establishing a new minimum wage at 60% of the median wage. 
  • Closing the gender pay gap by guaranteeing annual award wage increases of CPI + 0.5% in women-dominated industries, including education, nursing, cleaning and childcare.

Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, Let's ensure safety and equity for everyone

Workplaces That Work For Women

Women disproportionately experience sexism, discrimination and harassment at work. Women’s jobs are more insecure, with less pay and fewer rights. 

The gender pay gap in Australia is 13.8%, with men working full time taking home, on average, $25,800 more than women working full time each year. 

The Greens plan includes:

  • Boosting paid parental leave
  • Increasing women’s workforce participation through free childcare and flexible work arrangements
  • Closing the gender pay gap by increasing wages, valuing care work, improving pay transparency, and penalising employers who don’t act to reduce the pay gap
  • Implementing all recommendations in the Respect@Work and Set the Standard reports, including a positive duty on employers to make their workplace safe
  • Implementing public sector workforce strategies to boost employment of women, First Nations and CALD people, and people with a disability
  • Supporting women-led businesses through low interest loans and procurement targets

Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, The arts enrich our lives

Arts, entertainment and creative sectors

The arts, entertainment and creative industries have been some of the hardest hit by the COVID-19 crisis. Overnight, many artists and crews lost their entire income. 

This industry is worth $112 billion a year to the Australian economy and employs around 600,000 people. 

Many of those in the  arts, entertainment and creative sectors have found themselves excluded from the Government’s JobKeeper program

The Greens plan includes:

  • Providing additional Covid recovery funding through the RISE fund
  • Establishing a $1 billion Live Performance Fund to inject money into Australia’s festival, music and live performance sector
  • Supporting the recovery of the arts industry with additional Covid recovery funding and pandemic insurance for live events
  • Growing Australia's local screen industry with a $1 billion 'Australian Stories Fund'
  • Regulating global streaming giants and require services to invest 20% of money earned from Australian subscribers to be spent on Australian content.
  • Establishing multi-disciplinary Creativity Commission with $10 million a year fund.
  • Providing pandemic insurance for live events
  • Legislating a minimum performance fee to provide stability for live performers
  • Investing in arts education with the establishment of a new arts school
  • Pilot Artists Wage program to help 10,000 Australian artists have an amazing year of creativity

Photo of a smiling person. Text reads, The future of work must improve the lives of working people

The Future Of Work

The COVID pandemic has changed the way we work, accelerating many significant transformations that were already underway. But current low unemployment figures mask the enormous problems of underemployment and wage stagnation, and while remote work has offered greater flexibility and a work-life balance it can also lead to increased exploitation.

Research shows that remote working is here to stay with more than 40% of working people in Australia still regularly working from home.

The Greens plan includes:

  • Establish A Future of Work Commission to examine these issues and provide advice to government, business, unions and communities on how to address the threats and problems of the transformation of work and make the most of the opportunities. 

Together, we’re powerful.

We have a plan to reduce the cost of living, make housing more affordable, tackle the climate crisis, and make sure everyone is looked after.

We'll take on the big corporations, stop them ripping you off, and and tax them to fund the things that everyone needs. The Greens are fighting for you.