Q. Fair Work Ombudsman options?
The following are a range of potential options for the FWO to mitigate phoenix activity. These options recognise that the FWO does not currently have the power to investigate phoenix activities and there are significant limitations on the options available to the FWO once a company enters liquidation.
Specialist phoenix activity inspectors
Like the ATO, the FWO could have a team of inspectors who specialise in investigating suspected phoenix activity. This option would require significant resources and also require reform of the Fair Work Act 2009 to enable inspectors to investigate such issues.
Perhaps the most significant advantage to this option is that it could facilitate ongoing monitoring of repeat offenders. There was not significant support for this option amongst stakeholders as it was felt that the additional benefits would not justify the significant costs.
The FWO have indicated that rather than training specific specialist phoenix activity inspectors, more informal options such as cross-agency training to develop 'subject matter experts' in phoenix activity would be preferred.