Essential Report
Views towards changes to industrial relations laws and casual workers
Q. According to the Fair Work Commission, “A casual employee does not have a firm commitment in advance from an employer about how long they will be employed for, or the days (or hours) they will work. A casual employee also does not commit to all work an employer might offer. For example, an employee who works to a roster that could change each week and can refuse or swap shifts is casual.”
Which of the following is closer to your view?
Total | Gender | Age Group | Federal Voting Intention | |||||||||
Male | Female | 18-34 | 35-54 | 55+ | Labor | TOTAL: Coalition | Greens | TOTAL: Other | ||||
The law should be changed now to make it easier for casual workers to become permanent employees if they want to, so they have greater certainty in their lives | 57% | 56% | 59% | 52% | 57% | 62% | 59% | 56% | 55% | 67% | ||
Now is not the right time to make changes to the rules for casual workers, because economic uncertainty means there needs to be as much flexibility in the workplace as possible | 43% | 44% | 41% | 48% | 43% | 38% | 41% | 44% | 45% | 33% | ||
Base (n) | 1,071 | 539 | 532 | 339 | 374 | 358 | 356 | 406 | 102 | 107 | ||
- Views are split on whether this is the right time to change the industrial relations laws regarding casual workers. While the majority think the laws should be changed (57%), there is a sizeable minority (43%) who believe now is not the right time to make these changes.

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