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Minimum wage (Starting-out wage) Amendment Bill

Summary of key points:

Caritas is opposed to the introduction of the starting-out wage for young people in the workforce.
Making young workers cheaper alone will not address the major challenges facing us as a community unable to find work for everyone.
Wages cannot be treated simply as a commodity, because people deserve to live in dignity on their earnings.
Caritas has undertaken a small-scale qualitative study in considering this legislation, which points out the complexity of the youth workforce and the potentially wide-sweeping impact of this policy.
Caritas does not accept that the age discrimination in this Bill is justified.
Young people will be made more vulnerable to exploitation, given the combined impacts of this policy together with the 90-day probationary provision allowing for dismissal without explanation and the benefit sanctions regime which penalises beneficiaries if work is refused.
The Bill will displace older teenagers with younger teenagers, and older workers with younger workers. It does not create a system of employment which offers life-long job opportunities and development.
While public debate has focused on the impact of this Bill on young workers under the age of 20, there are also serious concerns for the open-ended provision to pay training wages to workers over 20.