Or is it? Rachel Siewart doesn't think so:
Sadly, some of the people who voted out Howard, believing that they were getting rid of AWAs, may still be stuck on unfair AWAs come the next election. Under the new so-called Forward with Fairness arrangements, existing AWAs can continue up to and even beyond their five year nominal expiry dates, and workers (in workplaces currently using AWAs) can still be offered a new type of individual workplace agreements called an ITEA (individual transitional employment agreement) – kind of an ‘AWA-Plus.’
This is why there should be an opportunity within the Act for workers who are stuck on an unfair AWA to ask the Workplace Authority to assess it against the government’s new no-disadvantage test. If it fails the new test, then they should be able to choose to unilaterally terminate that agreement.
