Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1997, published 86th ILC session (1998)

Protection of Workers' Claims (Employer's Insolvency) Convention, 1992 (No. 173) - Australia (Ratification: 1994)

The Committee has noted the Government's first and second reports and requests the Government to supply further information on the following points.

Article 4 of the Convention. The Committee notes that the Government indicates in the report that the provisions of the Corporations Law and the Bankruptcy Act have no application to "employees working directly for a government", since governments are neither corporations nor individuals and the laws of insolvency do not apply to them. It requests the Government to clarify the scope of the term "employees working directly for a government", whether it refers only to the public servants or also to people working for companies owned by the State or a mixed status between the public and the private sector.

Articles 6(a) and 7(1). The Committee notes that the Bankruptcy Act, 1966, provides for a limit called "monetary cap" to the amounts due to an employee in relation to services rendered which is granted privilege in bankruptcy procedures (section 109(1)(e)). According to the Government's second report, the maximum amount is fixed by regulations at AUD$3,100 increased in accordance with the consumer price index (CPI) for the financial year commencing on 1 July 1997, and this amount will be worked out subsequently in accordance with the CPI. The Committee recalls that the Convention requires the protection of claims for wages relating to a prescribed period which should not be less than three months (Article 6(a)), and that it allows limitation of the protection to a prescribed amount, by the national legislation, only where the amount is not below a socially acceptable level (Article 7(1)). It therefore requests the Government to supply further information on the comparison of the above-mentioned maximum amount to the current level of wages.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the practical application of the Convention, including the number of workers covered by the relevant national provisions, in accordance with point IV of the report form.