The Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 before the Australian Parliament, if enacted in its current form, would have adverse effects on Australia’s economy, mainly through its impacts on the economics of labour hire and digital platforms.

This is the second round of the current federal government’s industrial relations reforms, which broadly speaking move Australia back towards a highly-regulated labour market, partly undoing the achievements of the microeconomic reform period of the 1980s and 1990s.

This paper is structured around the core proposals examined in the bill’s Explanatory Memorandum. It sets out the government’s proposed changes and then considers each of the so-called 'loopholes' in turn.