Government to allow discrimination against businesses without union-endorsed employment arrangements

Media Release: 3 June 2026

The Commonwealth government is set to allow itself to discriminate against businesses without union-endorsed employment arrangements, according to new rules buried in other-directed legislation tabled today, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said. 

“When the government gives itself a new power to discriminate against businesses without union-endorsed arrangements, it will send a chill down the spine of the entire business community,” ACCI’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy David Alexander said today. 

“This is a sneaky move to aid union mates, but it will structurally shift contracting away from best-practice arrangements to inefficient union-friendly arrangements.

Up until now there has been an explicit anti-discrimination provision in the Fair Work Act which forbids the government from discriminating against businesses according to their preferred workplace arrangements. 

After pressure from trade unions, the Commonwealth government is set to give itself permission, under the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026, to discriminate against the most efficient companies in favour of businesses with trade-union endorsed arrangements. 

The new pro-discrimination arrangements will impact on any business that intends to contract with the government, as well as the plethora of businesses that are registered under Commonwealth government authorities. 

The new arrangements will: 

• Penalise businesses that do not use union-endorsed agreements. 
• Drive up the costs of procurement and other contracts at the expense of taxpayers.
• Undermine freedom of association for individuals and businesses who choose not to deal through trade unions.

“We call on all Parliamentarians to oppose this proposed law granting the government the ability to discriminate against businesses that don’t have union-endorsed arrangements.”