Workplace Express reported that in budget estimates, ALP Senator Gavin Marshall asked McIlwain a series of questions about the prohibition on union training under Regulation 2.8.5(1)(c).

McIlwain's standard answer was that leave for union training "however described, is prohibited".

Prime Minister John Howard told parliamentary question time on Monday that "there have been agreements entered into under the new law which allow for the safety training of people, including attending courses provided by unions who are accredited trainers," Workplace Express reported.

His comments came as a group of Beaconsfield miners released a statement the same day, calling on Howard and Workplace Relations Minister Kevin Andrews "to lift their ban on workplace agreements that give miners, and millions of other working Australians, access to union OHS training and work-time meetings".

Andrews said that Tasmanian miners in particular continued to be eligible for union safety training under state OHS legislative requirements that include Unions Tasmania as an approved training provider.

Australian Workers Union national secretary Bill Shorten, representing the Beaconsfield miners, has said the union's proposed new agreement with mine management would be illegal because it seeks to include specific provisions for leave to attend union training and union meetings, according to Workplace Express.

“I think the Government privately recognise that they went too far in this legislation and they just need to find a way out of the corner they're in," Shorten told journalists.

The Office of Employment Advocate has excluded OHS training clauses that refer to a "union" or "unions" from workplace agreements in accordance with Regulation 2.8.5 of Work Choices, although the legislation does not prohibit workers actually attending union training, Workplace Express said.