The Hon Bill Johnston MLA, Minister for Industrial Relations, has announced an Inquiry into the systematic and deliberate underpayment of wages or entitlements of workers in Western Australia.

The Inquiry will be undertaken by Mr Tony Beech, former Chief Commissioner of the WA Industrial Relations Commission. The Inquiry terms of reference include:

• Whether there is evidence of this occurring in Western Australia;
• What are the reasons it is occurring, including whether it has become the business model for some organisations;
• The impact on workers, the businesses that are compliant with employment laws, and the Western Australian community and economy;
• Whether the current State and Federal regulatory framework for dealing with wage theft is effective in combating wage theft and supporting affected workers; and
• Whether new laws should be introduced in Western Australia to address wage theft, and if so, whether wage theft should be a criminal offence.

The complete terms of reference and further information on the Inquiry is available at www.dmirs.wa.gov.au/wagetheftinquiry

Workers, employers, unions, employer organisations and community organisations and stakeholders are invited to make a submission to the Inquiry.

Submissions can be provided via email to wagetheftinquiry@dmirs.wa.gov.au and an online survey form that workers can complete to provide details of their experiences of wage theft to the Inquiry is at www.dmirs.wa.gov.au/wagetheftinquiry.

Submissions are requested by 27 March 2019.