Future of Work report ‘unbalanced and impractical’, say business lobby groups

Two major lobby groups for Australian businesses have expressed concern about the recently released The Future of Work report and the risks it arguably poses to innovation and productivity.

Last week (Tuesday, 11 February), the House of Representatives standing committee on employment, education, and training tabled its The Future of Work report following its inquiry into the digital transformation of workplaces.

The inquiry, committee chair Lisa Chesters MP said in a statement, found that the digital transformation has exposed “significant” challenges.

This includes, the statement noted, gaps in Australia’s regulatory frameworks and workplace protections and a “very concerning and excessive” use of technology-enabled surveillance and data collection by employers.

To this end, the committee has recommended, the Fair Work Act must be updated to cover artificial intelligence (AI) and automated decision making (ADM).

Moreover, the report detailed “serious, harmful” data and privacy breaches of workers nationwide, raising ethical questions and demands for better safety protections.

However, not all stakeholders are thrilled with what the report is suggesting.

Following the release of the report, the Business Council Australia (BCA) and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) shared negative sentiments towards its proposed measures and outcomes.

BCA and ACCI said the report had “missed the mark” and shared recommendations that allowed unions a disproportionate say in how AI technology could be implemented in a business through consultation and obligations.

The report was tabled by the House of Representatives standing committee on employment, education and training last Tuesday following the inquiry into the digital transformation of workplaces.

According to the committee, the inquiry found that the digital transformation of AI technology had exposed significant challenges, including gaps in Australia’s regulatory framework and workplace protections and an excessive use of technology-enabled surveillance and data collection by employers.

The committee also noted the report emphasised the need for Australia to adopt measures for the safe and responsible development and deployment of these technologies across workplaces.

The report included 21 recommendations, such as maximising the benefits of AI and ADM in the workplace, clarifying obligations of technology developers and employers, enhancing consultation, privacy, and data protections, improving public trust in technology and strengthening Australia’s workforce and capabilities.

In addition to this, the committee said updates to the Fair Work Act and Privacy Law Act were also necessary steps alongside broader AI reform.

BCA chief executive Bran Black said the report recommendations presented the risk of increasing union power by stifling innovation, which would further entrench Australia’s lagging productivity and the cost-of-living crisis.

“Harnessing the power of technologies like AI is imperative to fixing sluggish productivity growth, and we need sensible regulations that safeguard communities, while also fostering a culture of innovation,” he said.

“At a time when we have significant productivity challenges, this union-back approach will simply add more red tape and slow down technology take-up – ultimately, this is bad for workers and bad for business.”

ACCI CEO Andrew McKellar echoed these sentiments, having noted the body was disappointed by the “short-sighted” approach of the committee and had taken an “overly simplistic” view of AI and other new technologies.

The report suggested amendments to the Fair Work Act and a one-size-fits-all approach for mandatory guardrails, which ACCI noted were unnecessary and would introduce significant uncertainty.

McKellar said the report recommendations were unbalanced and impractical.

“After months of input, the committee has completely disregarded the realities faced by business. The recommendations would create heavy-handed obligations on AI deployment in workplaces and undermine genuine effort to raise productivity in Australia,” he said.

“Australian businesses already grappling with complex new industrial relations laws, do not need further burdensome workplace regulations.”

“While the report includes positive recommendations, most notably on the need to raise awareness of how new technologies work, encourage upskilling and embedding industry expertise in education and training, these efforts are undermined by restrictive AI regulations and proposals to overextend the Fair Work Commission’s authority.”