The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) has criticised the draft Secure Australian Jobs Framework, calling it the latest step in what it describes as a Commonwealth push to rig procurement in the favour of unions.
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations released the draft framework and proposed changes to the Commonwealth Supplier Code of Conduct on 23 September, saying the framework will set workplace expectations for suppliers holding Commonwealth contracts.
The framework covers secure work, fair wages and conditions, safe workplaces, gender equality and diversity, and support for local jobs, skills and industry capability.
The draft follows the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No.1) Act 2026, which received royal assent on 6 July.
The Act amended the Fair Work Act to allow the Commonwealth, in certain contracting decisions, to prefer employers whose workers are covered by an enterprise agreement, including one that covers a registered union, without breaching its discrimination rules.
The Federal Government says the proposed framework and Supplier Code changes will set out how its workplace expectations apply in procurement and are intended to support stable employment and fair working conditions.
It also says the changes will help agencies assess suppliers’ capability and delivery risk, maintaining that value for money will remain central to Commonwealth procurement.
However, ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar has rejected the government’s framing.
“The Federal Government should not be discriminating against businesses without union agreements; it is as simple as that,” he said.
“The Secure Australian Jobs Framework is clearly an attempt to give unions a say in who has the competitive edge for government work; this would mean businesses who do not sign up to what unions want will be at a disadvantage when bidding for taxpayer-funded work.”
ACCI has set out five areas of concern with the draft. At the top of the list is a clear preference for businesses with an enterprise agreement covered by a registered union.
Beyond that, the chamber points to expectations it says would effectively discourage lawful use of casual, fixed-term and labour hire arrangements, even though those arrangements are already regulated under existing workplace laws.
It also highlights measures that could restrict workforce flexibility more broadly, including around labour hire, additional compliance and reporting burdens, and flow-on effects for competition, productivity, tender participation and small and medium-sized business (SME) engagement in Commonwealth procurement.
On that last point, McKellar said SMEs, particularly, may feel the brunt of the draft.
“By handing more power to unions, the federal government is exposing critical public projects to the sorts of cost blowouts and delays we have seen across the country,” he said.
“We also have particular concerns for small and medium businesses; they will feel the impacts acutely, it is hard enough for them to pitch for government work and this is yet another barrier they have to contend with.”
This isn’t the first time ACCI has raised the alarm on this front. The chamber says it has previously warned the federal government against pursuing what it calls “procurement-rigging” in favour of unions.
It again pointed to Queensland’s now-scrapped Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) policy as a cautionary example.
The Queensland Productivity Commission estimated that, if BPIC had remained in place until 2029-30, project costs would likely have been around 10 to 25 percent higher.
Separately, it found construction productivity had fallen by about nine percent since 2018, a decline it estimated was equivalent to 77,000 fewer homes than if productivity had stayed at 2018 levels.
The framework is not intended to apply to construction, which is being considered through a separate Commonwealth standards process.
Consultation on the draft framework and Supplier Code amendments is open until 21 October 2026.
