What’s so special about the Workplace Authority?

Those TV ads for the Workplace Authority don’t work, do they? They’re another “official government reassurance” — so of course we don’t believe them.

“You can call (the) Ombudsman but you have already lost a house, your job… You are living on the street with your kids,” one respondent said. “Six years later you may get a reply.”

And who are the people in the ad? Barbara Bennett strides around comfortably — apparently she’s a public servant who’s risen quickly through the ranks. But key jobs like “General Manager Contact Centre” and “Chief Financial Officer” were only advertised in the papers on the weekend.

And why is the General Manager Contact Centre, who oversees just 180 staff, being offered $220k per annum, when this survey of call centre salaries (44k PDF) shows that the current range is $70k to $160k, with a median of $120k?

2 Replies to “What’s so special about the Workplace Authority?”

  1. “Six years later you might get a reply”?

    How long have the new IR laws been in place?

    Really, some of the anti-IR stuff is such blatant propaganda.

    People have genuine concern, but that concern is being leveraged for non genuine purposes.

    Can’t wait to see our opinion of the Unions once Labour is in “power”.

  2. @jason: Well, that comment came up in a focus group, it’s what some individual thought was likely to happen. Of course, that’s the one comment from many which the reporter decided to run — because controversy sells newspapers and agreement doesn’t.

    The main gripe I have with “blatant propaganda” is that it actually works. If only more people were more discerning — and then politicians would have to work harder to make subtle propaganda.

    The lead story in today’s Sydney Morning Herald is cute in this content.

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