By Shane Wright

Copyright brisbanetimes

The government plans to ban most non-compete clauses, which affect up to half of all workers, by 2027. Clauses can include restrictions on working in a similar industry to non-disclosure requirements.

In a speech to the Sydney Institute on Tuesday, assistant competition minister Andrew Leigh will reveal that in planning for the 2027 ban, the government has found a swathe of such restraints on low- and average-pay workers.

Leigh will say the submissions show the development of so-called “cascading clauses”, in which a number of different restrictions are inserted into work contracts. If one clause doesn’t stop a worker from moving to a new business, another clause will.

Such clauses might include restrictions on people working within a similar industry in a particular state, a region or even a five-kilometre area of the employees’ current workplace.