Latest news

FSU members have expressed deep concerns that proposed Workplace Protection Order (WPO) laws in NSW will fail to capture and protect finance workers.

WPOs prohibit or restrict a person from approaching a workplace or engaging in abusive behaviour towards staff. Importantly, they provide police with a legal instrument to take immediate action if the order is breached.

Currently, NSW employers are unable to prevent individuals from entering a workplace, instead relying on workers applying for individual intervention orders against customers who offend.

The NSW Government is proposing legislation that would provide employers with an additional mechanism – WPOs – to ensure their workplaces and employees are safe.

As it currently stands, these proposed laws will only apply to retail settings, and will exclude finance workers in frontline workplaces, such as bank branches. The FSU is calling for that to be changed.

Speaking at a roundtable discussion with NSW Minister for Industrial Relations and Work Health and Safety Sophie Cotsis MP, FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano said it was imperative that these proposed laws be extended to capture finance workers.

"Finance workers know firsthand that violence and aggression at work is not confined to one industry — and workers should not have to accept it as part of doing their job," said Julia.

"If a worker is serving the public and is exposed to violence or aggression from members of the public, they should have access to the same protection.

"Bank branches are public-facing workplaces. Our members deal directly with members of the public every day, often in open-plan environments, and they can be exposed to exactly the types of behaviour that these laws are designed to address.

"That can include yelling, verbal abuse, threats, banging on doors, intimidation and physical violence."

'You finish at four – I'll see you then'

FSU member and Branch Manager John McWhirter also attended the roundtable discussion. His story, which he recounted directly to government decision-makers, was a powerful message that demonstrated why these laws must be extended to finance workers.

“A customer told me on a phone call that they were going to ‘cave my skull in’ then came to the branch and said, ‘You finish at four – I’ll see you then’," said John.

“Being told I would have to pursue any personal legal action myself made it worse, especially as I had not previously been required to report crimes or give statements.

“Money can be a significant trigger for inappropriate customer behaviour. When this occurs, staff need clear, active employer support.

“The ability for employers to support staff through this [WPO] process would make a real difference for those affected.”

Every worker has the right to feel safe at work. We urge the NSW Government to amend its proposed legislation to ensure all workers who are exposed to violence and aggression are protected.

FSU submission

In May, the FSU made a submission to the NSW Government, calling for changes to the proposed legislation to ensure it protects finance workers. Our recommendations included:

• broadening the legislation to include all customer-facing roles in the community.
• extending WPO applicants to include unions and Health and Safety Representatives.
• broadening the legislation so that it can be applied to an individual employee, a group of individual employees, an identifiable class of employees or all employees in a particular workplace.
• enforcing WPOs indefinitely unless a court determines a specific duration.

Read the FSU's full submission here.