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New laws that focus on patterns of behaviour are the first step to coercive control becoming a specific offence as part of Queensland's domestic violence reforms.

The legislation is the first resulting from recommendations in the Women's Safety and Justice task force report Hear Her Voice, and was introduced to state parliament on Friday.

It will strengthen Queensland's response to coercive control before the introduction of a stand-alone offence next year, Attorney-General Shannon Fentiman said.

"The task force made it very clear that system-wide reform was needed before any new coercive control offence came into effect," she told parliament.

The legislation will broaden the definition of domestic violence to include patterns of behaviour, not just single incidents.

"Our system right now is really set up to respond to individual instances of physical violence, but we know that for so many victims of domestic and family violence, it's a pattern of controlling behaviour that happens over time," Ms Fentiman said.

The definition of unlawful stalking will also be updated to include intimidation, harassment and abuse.

"This is aimed at better capturing the way that modern technology is being used to control and harass victims," Ms Fentiman said.

There will also be provisions for courts to give greater consideration to domestic violence history and address the use of tactical cross-applications.

A respondent's criminal and domestic violence history will have to be provided for all private and police-initiated domestic violence applications.

Applications and cross-applications will be heard together, requiring the court to identify the person most in need of protection and only make one order in most circumstances.

"We have to make sure that it is the person most in need of protection," Ms Fentiman said.

Outdated terms such as carnal knowledge and maintaining a sexual relationship with a child will be updated to ensure language does not "trivialise or soften what are reprehensible actions", Ms Fentiman said.

Carnal knowledge will be updated to penile intercourse, while maintaining a sexual relationship with a child will become repeated sexual conduct with a child.

Sue and Lloyd Clarke, whose daughter Hannah and her three children were murdered by her estranged husband in 2020, welcomed the new laws.

"Hannah didn't know she was in an abusive relationship because she wasn't being physically harmed, but now the law is closer to recognising the very real danger of coercive control and we are getting closer to outlawing it completely," Sue Clarke said on Friday.

"I think there was about six or eight iPhones hidden around the house where he would listen to everything she did. He had one in the car watching where she went, so just that alone would have given her a bit of ammunition to having a stalking criminal offence put at him."

The bill will now be examined by a parliamentary committee before it's debated in coming months.

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Customers could end up paying more for goods and services if industrial relations reforms on the table are not designed correctly.

On the flip side, well-crafted changes to multisector bargaining and other industrial relations reforms could unlock higher wages for workers.

An independent Productivity Commission report says such industrial relations reforms could make it easier for small firms to band together and secure higher wages but that "would depend very much on its design features".

Changes to multi-employer bargaining rules, which could see workers in small businesses united under similar workplace conditions, were flagged in the wake of the Labor government's jobs and skills summit.

In a report on the labour market, the Productivity Commission warned that poorly designed multi-employer bargaining changes could shrink the productivity benefits of firm-level bargaining.

The authors were also concerned it could encourage cost collusion among businesses and lead to higher-priced goods and services for customers.

But on the other hand, the PC recognised that well-designed changes could make it easier for small firms to engage in bargaining as they could join forces and share the costs.

Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus said the PC was a "politicised relic" of the coalition government that had been tasked with attacking workers' rights.

"They have no idea how wages bargaining works, do not consult and ignore international research. No credibility," Ms McManus said.

But some business groups have echoed the PC's concerns about multisector bargaining.

"No one wants to return to the uncertainty and disruption of a workplace relations system that saps productivity by stoking conflict and strike action, that's bad for workers, bad for consumers and bad for businesses," Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.

"The best way to get wages growing is by reinvigorating bargaining at an enterprise level to drive productivity," she said.

The report also recommended limiting the better off overall test to make the enterprise bargaining system more efficient.

The PC also waded into gig worker rights and raised concerns that categorising platform workers as employees "would remove key benefits to both efficiency and flexibility for workers".

"Many platform-based occupations are a direct extension of existing independent contracting arrangements, which can involve relatively high rates of pay," the report said.

In a win for low-paid workers, more than 400,000 Australian workers will see a boost to their pay slips after a major decision by the industrial umpire.

Affected full-time workers will receive an extra $40 a week after the Fair Work Commission increased the minimum wage and some associated industrial awards.

The cash is starting to hit bank accounts in the first pay cycle since the 4.6 per cent increase.

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Brittany Higgins has finished giving evidence in the rape trial of her former colleague after directly addressing him in court for the first time.

Bruce Lehrmann is being tried by the ACT Supreme Court, charged with sexual intercourse without consent.

He has pleaded not guilty and denies having any sexual interaction with Ms Higgins.

During an emotional cross-examination after four days of questions, Ms Higgins directly addressed Lehrmann, telling him "nothing was fine" after the alleged assault.

"Nothing was fine after what you did to me, nothing," she said.

Defence lawyer Steven Whybrow put to Ms Higgins that she did not see Lehrmann inside then defence industry minister Linda Reynold's office and she was not sexually assaulted by him.

"He was in there. He was physically violating me. He was in my body. I know," she said.

Mr Whybrow also put to Ms Higgins she fabricated her rape allegation because she was concerned she would lose her job as a Liberal Party staffer.

"I'm not a monster, I would never do something like that," she told the court.

"You are asserting that I did this because I wanted to keep my job. I cared about my job but I would never do something like that."

Earlier in the week, the court heard Lehrmann told police Ms Higgins indicated she also needed to return to Parliament House that night.

Ms Higgins rejected this suggestion on Friday, saying there was no reason for her to return to parliament in the early hours of Saturday morning in March 2019.

During re-examination by prosecutor Shane Drumgold, Ms Higgins told the court she had reopened her police complaint and spoken to media to address two separate issues.

She said the purpose of reopening her complaint was to go through the justice system with her rape allegation.

But she went to the media to expose the "rife" cultural issues in Parliament House.

"There are a dozen stories like mine," she said.

Ms Higgins has previously told the court she and Lehrmann returned to Parliament House after a night out drinking with colleagues.

The former Liberal Party staffer said she fell asleep on the couch and woke up to Lehrmann having sex with her.

Mr Drumgold asked Ms Higgins to clarify if she was fearful of losing her job because she had returned to Parliament House late at night.

She said she feared reporting the alleged assault to police in case it subsequently leaked to the media ahead of the 2019 federal election.

The trial was initially anticipated to run for between four and six weeks but could now be over in half that time.

Senator Reynolds is due to give evidence in court on Tuesday.

Senator Michaelia Cash is also expected to be in the witness box early next week before the Crown closes its case.

Another former Liberal minister Steven Ciobo is no longer expected to give evidence, with the initial witness list of 52 now reduced to 32.

The trial continues on Monday.

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