4 Yearly Review of Modern awards-Award stage-Substantive Issues

The Fair Work Commission was called upon to review modern awards, with a particular focus on the substantive claims made as part of the 4 yearly review of modern awards. The review involved multiple parties, including the Australian Industry Group, the Housing Industry Association, and the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers Association Limited, each of whom had made submissions regarding specific awards. The primary legal issue before the Commission was to determine the appropriate timetable for the review of these substantive claims and to incorporate the submissions of the parties into the provisional timetable.

The Commission carefully considered the submissions from the interested parties, which included requests for adjustments to the provisional timetable to accommodate additional evidence and witnesses. The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers Association Limited, in particular, sought a later hearing date to allow sufficient time for their evidence to be presented. The Australian Industry Group had finalised the program for the Air Pilots Award 2010 and requested the inclusion of further submissions for the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010. The Housing Industry Association drew attention to an outstanding claim regarding payment of wages in the Building and Construction Onsite Award 2010, which was not originally included in the timetable.

In response to the submissions, the Commission amended the provisional timetable to accommodate the requests. The hearing for the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services Award 2010 was rescheduled to late July 2019. Further submissions for the Hair and Beauty Industry Award 2010 were added to the timetable, and dates for the payment of wages common issue were included. The finalised timetable was to be published on the Commission’s website and updated as necessary throughout 2019. Programming mentions were to be scheduled before directions were issued in the substantive matters.