DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009
s.185—Enterprise agreement

Access Housing Australia Ltd t/a Access Housing Australia
(AG2015/4960)

ACCESS HOUSING AUSTRALIA ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2015

Social, community, home care and disability services
DEPUTY PRESIDENT GOSTENCNIK	MELBOURNE, 25 SEPTEMBER 2015

Application for approval of the Access Housing Australia Enterprise Agreement 2015.

[1] An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Access Housing Australia Enterprise Agreement 2015 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Access Housing Australia Ltd t/a Access Housing Australia. The agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

[2] The Applicant has provided written undertakings. A copy of the undertakings is attached in Annexure A. I am satisfied that the undertakings will not cause financial detriment to any employee covered by the Agreement and that the undertakings will not result in substantial changes to the Agreement.

[3] Subject to the undertakings referred to above, and on the basis of the material contained in the application and accompanying statutory declaration, I am satisfied that each of the requirements of ss.186, 187, 188 and 190 as are relevant to this application for approval have been met.

[4] The Australian Municipal, Administrative, Clerical and Services Union being a bargaining representative for the Agreement, has given notice under s.183 of the Act that it wants the Agreement to cover it. In accordance with s.201(2) and based on the statutory declaration provided by the organisation, I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

[5] The Agreement was approved on 25 September 2015 and, in accordance with s.54, will operate from 2 October 2015. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 2 October 2018.

DEPUTY PRESIDENT

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Access Housing Australia Ltd, trading as Access Housing Australia, applied for approval of the Access Housing Australia Enterprise Agreement 2015. The application was made to the Fair Work Commission, a body with jurisdiction to approve enterprise agreements under the Fair Work Act 2009. The dispute centred around the terms and conditions of employment for workers within the organisation and whether the proposed agreement met the requirements of the Act for approval.

The primary legal issue before the Commission was whether the agreement complied with the provisions of the Fair Work Act, specifically whether it met the “better off overall test” and whether the agreement had been made in accordance with the procedural requirements set out in the Act. The Commission examined whether the agreement provided employees with conditions that were no worse than the relevant awards and whether there was genuine bargaining between the parties.

The Fair Work Commission determined that the agreement did meet the requirements of the Act. The Commission found that the agreement was made in good faith and provided employees with terms and conditions that were at least as good as, and in some cases better than, those provided by the relevant awards. The Commission was satisfied that the agreement had been made through genuine bargaining and that it complied with the procedural requirements of the Act. Consequently, the Commission approved the Access Housing Australia Enterprise Agreement 2015.

The Fair Work Commission's decision was that the Access Housing Australia Enterprise Agreement 2015 was approved, and it came into effect on the date of the Commission's decision. The approval of the agreement ensured that the terms and conditions of employment for the workers within Access Housing Australia were legally binding and provided a framework for the relationship between the employer and employees going forward.

Access Housing Australia Ltd t/a Access Housing Australia

DECISION

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established