Queensland Parliament has passed legislation to bring security of payment for the 240,000 Queenslanders who work in the state’s building and construction industry.
The Queensland Law Society Construction and Infrastructure Law Committee was invited to comment on the reform and was generally supportive of the Bill.
Its submission commended the efforts to improve the security of the payment regime but also questioned whether the aims of the Bill would be achieved by introducing penalties for non-compliances that do not invalidate payment claims.
Housing and Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni said the Government had made great strides in rebuilding confidence in the building and construction industry.
“When the Palaszczuk Government introduced the Building Industry Fairness Act in August 2017, we made it clear we were not going to accept late and non-payment or put it in the ‘too hard’ basket,” the Minister said.
Mr de Brenni said the Building Industry Fairness (Security of Payment) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2020 was now especially important to ensuring tradies got paid, after struggling with the impact of COVID-19.
“Because we’re continuing to manage the health response to COVID-19, we have already started delivering Queensland’s plan for economic recovery,” he said. “Part of that plan is supporting traditional industries like building and construction, and that means making sure Queensland tradies get paid.
“When tradies see their jobs lined up and have confidence they’ll get paid for that work, they invest in their local economy, whether it’s buying a new ute or taking on another apprentice.”
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