Urgent campaign - stop the Associations Bill

The Government wants a veto over worker organising.Stop this Bill.

They say it is about fake unions. The Bill goes much further: it can block or wind up worker-led associations because they protect members' industrial interests. Rights at work need more voices, not fewer.

Tell MPs to stop it GWU Statement

Statement from GWU

This is a permission slip system for worker power.

Friends, on Tuesday the Victorian Government introduced the “Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill”. This bill is far broader than a crackdown on “fake unions”. It targets associations with an “industrial relations purpose”, and therefore risks shutting down worker-led groups whose whole purpose is to organise, educate and protect people at work.

This is a political choice, and it's no wonder that the union which installed Ben Carroll, the SDA, stands to benefit the most. Instead of competing with values first, worker-led organising on the merits, the response is to change the rules so smaller groups focused on workplace rights can be refused incorporation, and existing ones wound up.

Workers absolutely deserve real union protection. But that does not justify laws so broad they can be used against grassroots workplace groups, rank-and-file caucuses, campaign organisations and worker associations that are trying to do what failed institutions have not: help workers defend themselves.

If the Government’s target is genuinely scam unions, then the law should be tightly drafted to target scams, deception and misrepresentation. It should not give Consumer Affairs Victoria a broad power to block or dissolve associations simply because they exist to further, protect or represent workers’ industrial interests.

Grill’d workers need more organising, not less. This Bill makes our task vastly more difficult, and we oppose it. Please consider supporting the campaign against this bill.

Why this is dangerous

It puts worker groups in the blast radius.

The Bill does not just force "red-unions" to not lie to workers, it reaches associations with a "purpose of furthering, protecting or representing members' industrial interests". That phrase is broad enough to hit the very reason genuine worker groups exist.

We support RAFFWU's opposition because the precedent is bigger than one union. If this power exists, every grassroots worker organisation lives with the same question: will the Government let us exist?

A veto over worker organising

The Bill allows the Registrar to refuse incorporation to associations with an industrial relations purpose unless they are exempt. Because federal registration is unrealistic for most grassroots workplace groups, this gives the Government power to block worker-led associations from formalising, or force existing ones to wind up.

No guarantee of exemptions

The Bill gives the minister the sole power to exempt associations from the industrial relations purpose test. The Government has not published any exemptions, and has refused to guarantee that genuine worker-led associations will be protected. Are we ready to trust hostile governments with this power?

Existing groups can be wound up

Consumer Affairs could issue a certificate to wind up an incorporated association if it is captured by the industrial relations purpose test and not exempted.

Affordable review is pushed away

For industrial-relations refusals, the Bill sends review to the Supreme Court instead of the cheaper VCAT path workers and small associations can actually use.

Values first

The real scam is pretending this only targets scam unions.

Scam unions should be stopped. Deception should be stopped. Hate groups and terrorist organisations should be stopped. But the Government has chosen drafting that also reaches groups built around workplace rights, worker education, delegate support, campaigning and collective self-defence.

That is the SDA's trick. Wrap a worker-organising veto in popular language, then ask Parliament to vote before the public sees real exemptions. If genuine worker groups are safe, the Government can prove it now by removing the threat from the Bill.

GWU is exactly why this matters.

GWU is clear with workers about what we are and what we are not. We are a worker-run Grill'd organising project. We do not pretend to be a registered union. We connect workers, publish rights information, campaign publicly, and help people get support before problems become disasters.

Those are exactly the kinds of ordinary worker-protection activities that should be safe. The Bill makes any more formal, transparent, and democratic structure legally impossible.

What MPs must do

Stop the Bill, or strip out the worker-organising veto.

No MP should vote for a law that can make worker groups ask permission to exist. If the Government refuses to withdraw the Bill, Parliament must force these changes before any vote.

Remove the worker-organising veto

No association should be blocked or wound up because workers educate, organise, campaign, support delegates, or help each other defend rights at work.

Write a law about scams

If the target is deception, misrepresentation, fake unions, hate groups or terrorism, draft the law around that conduct. Do not use ordinary worker protection as the trigger.

Publish real exemptions before the vote

If the Government says genuine worker-led associations are safe, it should put that protection in writing before Parliament votes.

Restore VCAT review

Small worker associations need an affordable merits-review path. Supreme Court-only review makes challenges expensive and rare.

Take action

How we fight this

The Bill has not passed. It was introduced on 11 August 2026, and the Victorian election is on 28 November 2026. Sitting time is short. That is why pressure now matters.

Find Victorian MPs Read the Bill PDF

Ask for fixes, not vague concern

This bill also deals with hate groups, so we can't just say "vote it down". That is easy to brush off. Ask for the worker-organising parts to be fixed.

Narrow the "industrial relations purpose" test. It should catch deception, scams and misrepresentation, not worker education, campaigning, delegate support, mutual aid, or associations like GWU looking to incorporate.
Fix the "may apply for registration" limb. A group should not lose incorporation because someone argues it could apply federally. That punishes groups for not getting a status they may be blocked from getting.
Publish the exemptions before the vote. If the Government says genuine worker groups are safe, it should put that in writing now.
Put VCAT review back. Supreme Court review is not a realistic appeal path for small worker associations.

Where to send it

The Legislative Council crossbench. The Bill has to get through the upper house. Prioritise the Greens, Legalise Cannabis Victoria, Animal Justice Party, Libertarian Party and independent MPs. If you are a constituent, say so.
Your local MP. This is especially worth doing if you live in a Labor seat. Tell them you support action against fake unions and hate groups, but not laws that can shut down worker-led organising.
SARC. Ask the Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee to look closely at freedom of association, review rights, and the power to wind up worker organisations using unpublished criteria.
Other unions and Trades Hall. The precedent is not limited to RAFFWU. Ask officials whether they want a future hostile government holding this same power.

A short email is enough

Use your own words. Keep it direct. Something like this:

I am asking you to amend the Associations Incorporation Reform Amendment Bill 2026 before it passes.

I support action against fake unions and deception. I do not support giving Consumer Affairs broad powers that could block or wind up worker-led groups because they organise, educate, campaign or protect people at work.

Please narrow the industrial relations purpose test, fix the "may apply for registration" limb, publish any exemptions before the vote, and restore VCAT review.

Add one sentence about why this matters to you. If you work at Grill'd, say that. If you are in retail or fast food, say that.

Direct pressure

Grill'd workers: talk to your workmates, share this page, and get involved with GWU.
Retail and fast-food workers: support RAFFWU's opposition and back independent worker organising.
SDA members: tell your branch that less competition makes your union weaker, not stronger.
Supporters: make noise before 28 November 2026. A government heading into an election does not want a story about deleting a workers' organisation to protect one that is affiliated to it.

Rights at work need more voices, not fewer.

First they failed workers. Now they want to limit who can organise them. A better law would target scams without threatening the organisations workers build to protect themselves.

Get involved with GWU Why unions matter