Associate Kamalini Lokuge and colleagues are calling for protection of workers in insecure and vulnerable work to help keep COVID under control.
Associate Kamalini Lokuge and colleagues are calling for protection of workers in insecure and vulnerable work to help keep COVID under control. The Government's proposed Fair Work Amendment Bill threatens Australia's ongoing control of COVID and could spark our next pandemic, leading experts from The Australian National University (ANU) warn. In a submission, the ANU experts argue an increase in casual employment, insecure working conditions and a lack of access to paid sick leave will increase the risks of COVID transmission. They are calling for the removal of measures that drive these risks from the proposed bill. "All the evidence shows the changes proposed in this act pose an immediate threat to public health," co-author Associate Professor Kamalini Lokuge said. "To keep COVID under control, we rely on our essential workers to be able to get tested and to isolate when unwell and quarantine while awaiting results. "The proposed changes will undermine our world-class response to COVID by increasing casual employment and insecure working conditions.
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