The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) says the battle against workforce casualisation is all in the name of a better standard of living.
More than 2 million Australians are deemed casual workers, despite the fact there is no standard definition of what a casual is.
Around 40 per cent of those workers are between 15 and 24 years old, and just over half are women.
The ACTU is calling for a sharper definition of casual work and the option for those workers to convert to permanent positions after six months of regular work with one company.
ACTU secretary Sally McManus says it is a matter of securing basic rights for the workers involved.
The ACTU says casual employment was once largely restricted to retail and hospitality workers.
But it says the rise of what it calls "fake casuals" has contributed to plunging more than half of Australians into insecure work.
But the Australian Industry Group's Stephen Smith argues restricting casual employment is a ridiculous proposition.
He has told 3AW Radio the proposed changes would harm both businesses and the broader community.
Mr Smith says they would also impact flexible work arrangements.
Under a Fair Work Commission ruling in July, employers can still refuse such requests on what are deemed reasonable grounds.
They include situations which would require significant changes to casual employees' hours of work or where a position would foreseeably no longer exist within a year.
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