Three quarters of NSW voters (75 per cent) say they are concerned about data breaches and personal information being accessed or exposed amid the state government’s plans to roll out an amendment that could give union officials access to employers’ ‘digital work systems’.
New polling – conducted by CT Group of 1,021 NSW voters – shows the NSW Government’s Digital Work Systems Bill flies in the face of community expectations, according to Business Council Australia, with voters raising strong concerns about data security, union access to sensitive IT systems, and the absence of independent oversight.
Within the results, just 5 per cent of respondents say unions should investigate workplace technology, compared with 61 per cent who believe this role should sit with government workplace safety regulators.
Two-thirds (66 per cent) support requiring court approval before union access to digital work systems.
Meanwhile, no majority is comfortable with union access to any digital work system, with just 16 per cent comfortable with access to “customer or client databases” and just 23 per cent comfortable with access to internal emails.
Just under half (44 per cent) of people also say this bill will have a negative impact on jobs and investment in New South Wales
Business Council CEO Bran Black said the polling confirms the Bill, as drafted, lacks a clear public mandate and raises serious concerns for workers and businesses alike.
“NSW workers expect their personal data and private communications to be protected, not exposed to union organisations who have a track record of abusing their access powers,” Black said.
“When three-quarters of voters are worried about data breaches, that should be a red flag for the Government.”
Pointing to the five per cent of people who trust unions to police workplace technology, Black said this is no surprise given the detailed allegations of criminal behaviour by unions like the CFMEU.
BCA is not the only industry organisation that has blasted the Bill, with retailers also ringing the alarm bells.
Australian Retail Council CEO Chris Rodwell said union officials could gain wide access to employers’ digital systems on the basis of a suspected Workplace Health and Safety (WHS) issue. These comments were shared in early December last year.
“The Bill proposes unprecedented access to commercially sensitive digital systems, from AI and automation tools to routine scheduling and payroll platforms,” Rodwell said. “This is a backward step on privacy and security that would not be allowed to occur in any other setting. It is also a significant departure from existing WHS laws and from the nationally harmonised framework which NSW has long supported.”
The Bill also introduces new duties around ‘digital work systems’ — including everyday workplace tools such as email, rostering software, payroll platforms, AI systems and basic scheduling applications — that were not subject to proper consultation and extend well beyond established WHS obligations, Rodwell added.
He said the proposed laws would impose significant uncertainty and compliance burdens on thousands of NSW businesses, including small and family-run retailers already under pressure.
“Retailers are committed to safe and healthy workplaces, but these changes go far beyond the established WHS framework. They were introduced without consultation, they are poorly defined, and they risk creating confusion, duplication and unintended obligations for businesses across the state.”
Meanwhile, the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) warned the Bill will increase compliance obligations for small businesses and expose them to severe penalties.
COSBOA chair Matthew Addison called it a “trojan horse”, indicating how union officials can access all sorts of data, including platforms containing payroll data, customer lists, pricing algorithms, and operational strategies.
“Small businesses have legitimate commercial-in-confidence concerns about union officials accessing their operational systems,” Addison said.
“There are inadequate safeguards preventing these powers being used for industrial rather than safety purposes. A union official does not need access to an entire customer database to investigate a safety issue.”
The Bill also introduces new offences for breaches involving everyday software used by small businesses.
Addison said the legislation fundamentally misunderstands how small businesses use technology.
“The Bill makes small business owners liable for work allocation, and anything from a standard spreadsheet to a basic off-the-shelf system is caught up in this overreach.”
Addison said compliance obligations within the Bill are equally unclear, as it requires businesses to ensure digital systems don't create “excessive”, “unreasonable” or “discriminatory” outcomes, yet none of these terms are defined. Small businesses face significant liability without a clear understanding of what compliance actually looks like.
“The NSW Government is creating penalties first and promising to define them later through regulator guidelines. That is backwards and fundamentally unfair.”
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry also weighed in, pointing out that the Bill has not been the subject to a thorough consultation with the industry.
“It is the role of Safe Work Australia and its associated tripartite process to monitor emerging hazards, and those matters that the Bill seeks to address are already accommodated within the existing model framework. On this basis the Bill should not be progressed,” ACCI shared in a statement.
“In the event your Government resolves to pursue the Bill, robust consultation on its impacts is crucial. Only if progressed, the Bill should be referred to a Parliamentary inquiry, alternatively, we would welcome the opportunity to meet with you in person to discuss our concerns.”
The group of organisations blasting the Bill also highlighted how it breaks away from national standards.
“Ongoing duplication and misalignment between the model WHS laws and individual State and Territory legislation is causing growing confusion for businesses operating across jurisdictions,” ACCI shared. “These inconsistencies increase compliance costs, create uncertainty and, most notably, erode safety outcomes.”
To Black at BCA, the strong support for court oversight in the recent poll reflects the basic expectations of fairness and due process.
“Two-thirds of NSW voters want a judge involved before unions can access payroll systems, HR files or internal emails, and that is simply common sense given the risks and confidential information involved,” he said. He added that the data also undermines claims that expanded union access is necessary to regulate workplace technology.
“Only five per cent of voters think unions should be responsible for investigating workplace technology.
“NSW workers overwhelmingly trust government regulators over unions to do that job, and the Bill ignores this reality.”
Black warned the legislation risks undermining confidence in NSW as a place to invest, innovate and create jobs.
“This Bill is a job and investment killer because it creates unnecessary data security risks for businesses, workers and government agencies alike—making other states suddenly look much more attractive to investors.”
“If the Government is serious about protecting workers while supporting investment and innovation, the legislation at the very least requires substantial amendment with guardrails put in place.”