Speakers: 2GB, Host Ben Fordham; Business Council of Australia Chief Executive Bran Black
Topics: NSW Digital Systems Bill
E&OE
Ben Fordham, Host: The Business Council of Australia is keen to respond to the New South Wales Premier. We spoke to Chris Minns about business owners being concerned about spying powers that could be granted to unions in New South Wales. They’d be inserted in the Work Health and Safety Act.
They’d allow unions access to digital private work systems, including emails, HR, databases and payroll. Chris Minns has told us this morning that unions will not have unrestricted access. In fact, they’d have to go through the courts.
Chris Minns, NSW Premier: They’re able to demand answers, and if the business says, “I don’t want to give you this information”, the court will decide whether it’s given over or not.
Ben: So, the union won’t decide?
Minns: No, the court will decide.
Ben: Bran Black is from the Business Council. Bran, good morning to you.
Bran Black, BCA Chief Executive: Good morning, Ben. Thanks for having me on the show.
Ben: Good, you want to set the record straight, go right ahead.
Bran: Look, thanks very much. On our analysis, we can’t see anything in this legislation that says that there is a requirement to go to court in order to obtain that access. As far as we can see, there is a right of entry that union officials would have to any business, small, medium or large in New South Wales, and they’d be able to go onto the premises, access any type of digital record, and so that includes, as you’ve said, payroll systems, HR systems, emails and so forth.
I want to be clear on this point, the only way this ends up in court is if an employer says no to the union official, and in that case, it ends up in court because the employer is then being taken to court for breach of the right that the union official has. So, to be absolutely clear, there is no requirement to go to court to obtain access to a premises or to those digital systems in the first place.