Unions representing Queensland nurses, teachers and other public sector workers have told state parliament the government's industrial relations bill goes further than Newman-era laws in limiting industrial action, Brisbane Times reported. They gave evidence on Friday (13 November) at a public hearing of the State Development, Infrastructure and Works Committee.

The Industrial Relations and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced on 14 October by Deputy Premier and Minister for Industrial Relations Jarrod Bleijie and referred to the committee, which is due to report by Friday (27 November), according to the committee's inquiry page. The page says the bill's primary objective is "to support workplace productivity and a fair, balanced and sustainable workers' compensation scheme".

Action During Conciliation

Queensland Nurses and Midwives' Union acting secretary Fridae King said her members never take industrial action that would harm patient safety, and that a large portion of the action they took last year would have been illegal. Brisbane Times reported 40 of the union's 63 days of action, which included wearing campaign shirts or not emptying bins, were taken during conciliation.

Queensland Teachers' Union acting general secretary Brendan Crotty said his members' two strike days last year would also have been unlawful because they occurred during conciliation.

At a departmental briefing to the committee on Monday (26 October), Office of Industrial Relations executive director Shane Donovan said: "I can confirm that there will be no protected industrial action during conciliation; that is correct. The bill makes those changes." Deputy director-general Megan Barry told the same briefing the bill retains collective bargaining, conciliation and arbitration, and "prevents protected industrial action during conciliation and arbitration, while importantly preserving a 28-day period before conciliation can commence".

Queensland Council of Unions general secretary Jacqueline King said many of the changes had been introduced under the Newman LNP government, "but they go further". "Put simply, this bill risks silencing around 360,000 Queenslanders who deliver essential public services every day," she said.

Minister's Power to End Action

The bill would allow the minister to terminate protected industrial action by written declaration. Proposed section 241B includes grounds where action would "significantly disrupt the delivery of a public service and the disruption is contrary to the public interest". Donovan told the briefing it was "set up as a last-resort provision", and Barry said public sector action carried "a greater potential" for significant adverse impacts on communities relying on those services.

Bleijie has said the power would only be used in "very limited circumstances" when safety or the economy was at risk or action was highly disruptive, the ABC reported. Introducing the bill, he said it would "begin to shift the balance back in Queenslanders' favour" and align with the federal Fair Work Act.

Together secretary Alex Scott told the hearing the industrial commission already had powers to swiftly terminate action that risked the lives or safety of people, so the new ministerial power would only be needed where the minister wanted to override the independent umpire.

Workers' Compensation Changes

Queensland Police Union president Shane Prior said his organisation would not accept a proposal making it harder for first responders to make a PTSD-related workers' compensation claim. Australian Workers' Union state secretary Stacey Schinnerl said raising the bar for psychological injury claims would disproportionately affect the public sector. "It is diabolical in its proposition to make injured workers carry the cost of prevention failures while weakening their ability to bargain over the conditions affecting their safety," she said.

The committee heard from business groups and other worker bodies on Thursday. Its report is due ahead of the last parliamentary sitting of the year.