{"id":4005,"date":"2025-03-27T14:27:38","date_gmt":"2025-03-27T03:27:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/?p=4005"},"modified":"2025-03-27T14:28:05","modified_gmt":"2025-03-27T03:28:05","slug":"the-federal-government-has-announced-a-ban-on-non-compete-clauses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2025\/03\/27\/the-federal-government-has-announced-a-ban-on-non-compete-clauses\/","title":{"rendered":"The Federal Government has announced a ban on non-compete clauses"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Non\u2011compete clauses are conditions in employment contracts that prevent or restrict an employee from moving to a competitor, and may prevent them from moving to a better job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within the massage industry, non-compete clauses are also commonly included in independent contracting agreements. While these restraints are unlikely to be legally enforceable, they can still cause significant anxiety for therapists. AMT receives a lot of inquiries from members seeking guidance on how these restraints may impact their ability to practice in the same town or local area. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Tuesday night, the Federal Government used the Federal Budget to announce a ban on non-compete clauses in employment contracts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The ban targets non-compete clauses in employment contracts<\/em><\/strong>, which restrict workers from taking up similar jobs or starting a business in competition with their former employer. The concern is that these clauses are being overused, often unnecessarily, and are limiting worker mobility, wages, and innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, the announcement and supporting documents do not explicitly mention independent contractor agreements. However, depending on how the final legislation is drafted, it\u2019s possible that the rules could be extended or interpreted to cover quasi-employment relationships where a person is engaged as a contractor but operates under conditions similar to employment (especially given ongoing scrutiny of sham contracting practices through Closing the Loopholes legislation<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The proposed reforms are still subject to consultation and legislative drafting, so contractors might be included indirectly or via separate legislative changes (e.g. under Fair Work reforms or unfair contract terms law). The ACCC and Treasury have been increasingly critical of anti-competitive behavior in both employment and contracting contexts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Watch the report on abc news<\/a> regarding the announcement<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read or listen to the report <\/a>on abc.net.au<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Read the media release<\/a> on the Treasury website<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And watch this space!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Federal Government announced a ban on non-compete clauses in employment contracts during Tuesday night’s budget. Please read our 2-minute explainer. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,2],"tags":[992,28,598,937,994,991,996,990,995,989,997,993],"class_list":["post-4005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-events","category-professional-practice","tag-accc","tag-amt","tag-association-of-massage-therapists","tag-closing-the-loopholes","tag-competition","tag-competition-law","tag-contracting","tag-federal-budget-2025","tag-independent-contracting","tag-non-compete-clauses","tag-restraint-of-trade","tag-treasury"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/competition-analysis.jpg?fit=1200%2C789&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":760,"url":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2018\/05\/10\/how-to-spot-a-bad-employment-contract\/","url_meta":{"origin":4005,"position":0},"title":"How To Spot A Bad Employment Contract","author":"admin","date":"10\/05\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"How do you spot a bad contract if you're not a contract expert? There are a few key indicators that the contract you've been asked to sign is dodgy. Let us walk you through a few of them, and we'll share pointers on how to get accurate information for practitioners\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Professional Practice"","block_context":{"text":"Professional Practice","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/category\/professional-practice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Contract1.png?fit=1200%2C1003&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Contract1.png?fit=1200%2C1003&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Contract1.png?fit=1200%2C1003&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Contract1.png?fit=1200%2C1003&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Contract1.png?fit=1200%2C1003&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1936,"url":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/07\/31\/our-super-future\/","url_meta":{"origin":4005,"position":1},"title":"Our Super Future","author":"admin","date":"31\/07\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"\"A generation of massage therapists are contemplating a destitute retirement.\" There's a super reason for this that is super terrifying, which AMT CEO Rebecca Barnett explains in part 3 of our Employment series of articles.","rel":"","context":"In "Professional Practice"","block_context":{"text":"Professional Practice","link":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/category\/professional-practice\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/super-woman-1885016_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/super-woman-1885016_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/super-woman-1885016_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/super-woman-1885016_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.amt.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/07\/super-woman-1885016_1920.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1898,"url":"https:\/\/blog.amt.org.au\/index.php\/2019\/07\/24\/when-is-a-contractor-not-a-contractor\/","url_meta":{"origin":4005,"position":2},"title":"When is a Contractor Not a Contractor?","author":"admin","date":"24\/07\/2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I think (I'm a contractor), therefore I am (a contractor) ... Right? Er, probably not. 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