CDWI Public Seminar Series – Criminalisation of Wage Theft: A New Era for Enforcement?

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CDWI invites you to join Associate Professor Tess Hardy, Director of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations, University of Melbourne on the criminalisation of wage theft.

Abstract

The never-ending stream of wage theft scandals has led to a growing awareness that systemic underpayment is a persistent and pernicious problem in Australia. Many have assumed that employer non-compliance stems from a lack of deterrence. Accordingly, there has been a strong desire, and a growing demand, to introduce criminal wage theft offences into the federal workplace relations legislation. Associate Professor Tess Hardy will examine the new federal wage theft offences in the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth), which are due to take effect in early 2025. Drawing on extensive socio-legal research on deterrence, Tess will critically reflect on the strengths and shortcomings of criminal offences in seeking to tackle wage theft and promote broadscale employer compliance.

About the presenter

Tess HardyAssociate Professor Tess Hardy is Director of the Centre for Employment and Labour Relations Law at Melbourne Law School. Her research mainly focuses on labour regulation and its enforcement, and the way in which this intersects with business regulation more broadly. Prior to joining academia, Tess was a private practitioner based in Melbourne, Tokyo and Hong Kong, advising principally in the area of work law.

Tess is an editor of the Australian Journal of Labour Law and has previously been a consultant to the International Labour Organisation.

Event details

Date: Thursday, 30th May 2024
Time: 1.00pm to 2.00pm AEST followed by Q&A
Location: Gardens Point campus, A Block, Room A101

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