Australia’s building industry has welcomed the passing of legislation to place the nation’s construction union into administration, saying that the agreement to pass the legislation represents an important first step in restoring law and order to the industry.

On Monday, the Bill to place the Construction and General Divisions of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) passed the Senate.

This followed an agreement between the Government and the Coalition in regard to amendments in relation to the Bill.

The Bill has now passed both houses and is set to become law.

As a result, the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU is now set to come under administration around the country.

Having previous accused Parliament of ‘playing politics and leaving the building and construction industry in limbo’, Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Warn welcomed the agreement.

“The industry has been at a standstill with a great cloud of uncertainty on the current operating environment and the future of the CFMEU,” Wawn said.

“We thank the Government and Coalition for working in a bipartisan way to reach an agreement on a series of amendments while not delaying the Bill’s passage beyond this sitting period.”

Introduced into Parliament last week, the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Amendment (Administration) Bill 2024 proposes to amend the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 to place the Construction and General Division of the CFMEU under administration.

To be appointed by the Fair Work Commission (FWC), the administrator will be given powers to run the union for the period of administration – which will last for up to three years.

The administration will apply to every part of the union’s Construction and General Division and would apply across every state and territory.

The Bill follows moves on the part of the FWC to place much of the union’s construction divisions and divisional branches into administration on August 2 – the FWC stating that that it had formed the view that the union was no longer effectively discharging its functions.

These moves follow media reports last month of serious criminal behaviour and misconduct within the division.

This includes allegations of corruption, criminal conduct, bullying and harassment and general disregard for workplace laws.

Last week, passage of the Bill was blocked after the Coalition and the Greens voted last Thursday to block the bill.

This prompted Wawn to accuse Parliament of ‘playing politics and leaving the building and construction industry in limbo’.

The Opposition has asked for changes to the legislation across several areas.

These include making the three-year term a minimum rather than a maximum, requirements for the administrator to issue progress reports to parliament every three months and to appear before a parliamentary commission, and the banning of the union making political donations and campaigning whilst in administration.

However, the Bill secured the support of the Coalition after the Government agreed to amendments in three areas.

These included:

• having the maximum three-year period of administration become a minimum and that the maximum period be extended for five years (these periods can only be cut short by the administrator, not the government of the day).
• agreeing  that the administrator, barrister Mark Irving, KC, will issue a progress report to the parliament every six months (instead of also having to appear before a Senate estimates committee, as the Coalition was demanding, that will fall to Fair Work Commission general manager Murray Furlong)
• removing the maximum five-year ban for a dismissed union official and replace it with no limit, meaning they could be banned for life.

Whilst welcoming the passing of legislation as an important first step, Wawn said that more needed to be done in order to restore law and order onto construction sites.

“Our members are intimately familiar with the ingrained culture of lawlessness and thuggery that has plagued the sector for decades,” Wawn said.

“We continue to call for increased protections for businesses so they can come forward and provide evidence to the Fair Work Commission without fear of CFMEU retaliation.

“Permanent and lasting change requires long-term regulatory reform. The Federal Government must now move to establish a dedicated building and construction industry watchdog with real teeth.

“Countless Royal Commissions and inquiries have told us that building and construction needs an industry-specific regulator and laws.

“If we don’t learn from history, we will be doomed to repeat it.

“The regulator needs to be home to a dedicated cross-jurisdictional police unit to oversee and coordinate a strong law enforcement presence in the building and construction industry.

“To get it right, it must go further than industrial relations and have oversight on a broader range of matters, including workplace, safety, competition, corporations, governance and training.

“Australians expect a thriving and safe building and construction industry to deliver the roads, hospitals, schools and most importantly housing that they are crying out for.

“Master Builders will continue to work collaboratively with both the Government and Opposition to achieve a strong, safe, and prosperous sector.”

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