Federal Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Senator Eric Abetz, has blasted the revised National Code on Bullying, saying it “takes the nanny state to the extreme”.

 

The Code, which forms part of the Government’s OH&S harmonisation, has made a number of changes that have raised the Senator’s ire.

 

“Bulling in the workplace is to be condemned, but this over-zealous reaction by Safe Work Australia will not help anyone. Instead it will tie employees and their employers down in red tape,” Senator Abetz said.

 

“This Code reads like something out of the socialist playbook whereby personal responsibility is thrown out the window and everyone is bound in bubble wrap.”

 

“This is all well and good in theory, but the reality is that it simply will not work in 96% of Australian businesses, namely small businesses. Once again, bureaucrats sitting in Canberra without any real-world experience have spent thousands of dollars developing a Code that will not address the problem and indeed will make matters worse.”