SHEARERS will continue to work for poverty wages in unsafe shearing sheds across the country until the commonwealth government imposes a licensing regime on all labour hire companies operating in regional Australia the union which represents shearers, the Australian Workers’ Union (AWA), said last week.

A new resolution passed at the AWU’s National Conference held in Perth calls on the federal government to step in with a new national licensing and enforcement body after widespread reports of labour exploitation in shearing sheds across the country.

The new regulation body would hold the powers to ensure licensing and registration but also have powers of enforcement.

The AWU was formed by unionised shearers in Ballarat in 1886, and it was shearers who formed the political arm of the labour movement, the Australian Labor Party, in Queensland in 1892.

Shearers of the 1800s would ashamed to see what is happening in shearing sheds in 2024 according to Ross Kenna, lead organiser with the AWU Victorian Branch’s Country Team

“The AWU was born fighting for shearers, and we’re not backing down now,” said Mr Kenna.

"It’s disgraceful that some of the same exploitative attitudes that we saw prevailing in the 1890s have reemerged in 2024.

“Today we are once again seeing young shearers working for poverty wages in unsafe conditions.

“A national licensing system for shearing contractors is a must if we want to protect our workers’ rights and safety," said Mr Kenna.

“There’s no reason that the regulation of this industry should lag every other industry in the country.

“Shearers deserve safe jobs, fair pay, and protection from dodgy contractors just like everyone else.

"Some of the conditions in shearing sheds today would make our founding members turn in their graves.

“That’s why I’m so pleased that the AWU has officially committed to fighting for a licensing body that can put an end to the abuse," Mr Kenna said.