Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd T/A Repromed Summary

[2024] FWCA 2380

FAIR WORK COMMISSION

DECISION

Fair Work Act 2009

s.185 - Application for approval of a single-enterprise agreement

Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd T/A Repromed

(AG2024/1851)

ADELAIDE FERTILITY CENTRE PTY LTD (T/A REPROMED) DARWIN NURSE AND ADMINISTRATION EMPLOYEES ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2023

Health and welfare services
COMMISSIONER WILSON	MELBOURNE, 26 JUNE 2024

Application for approval of the Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd (Trading as Repromed) Darwin Nurse and Administration Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023

An application has been made for approval of an enterprise agreement known as the Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd (T/A Repromed) Darwin Nurse and Administration Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023 (the Agreement). The application was made pursuant to s.185 of the Fair Work Act 2009 (the Act). It has been made by Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd T/A Repromed. The Agreement is a single enterprise agreement.

The Employer 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. The undertakings are taken to be a term of the agreement.

Subject to the undertakings referred to above, 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.

The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation 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) I note that the Agreement covers the organisation.

The Agreement is approved and, in accordance with s.54 of the Act, will operate from 3 July 2024. The nominal expiry date of the Agreement is 30 June 2026.

COMMISSIONER

Printed by authority of the Commonwealth Government Printer

Annexure A

CaseChat Overview and Summary

The matter before the Fair Work Commission involved an application by the Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd, trading as Repromed, for the approval of the Darwin Nurse and Administration Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023. The application was made under the Fair Work Act 2009, and the dispute centred around whether the proposed agreement met the statutory requirements for approval by the Fair Work Commission. The applicants sought to have the agreement, which covered nurses and administration employees, approved as a Registered Agreement.

The central legal issues for the Commission to decide were whether the proposed agreement complied with the procedural requirements of the Fair Work Act, including the necessity of bargaining in good faith, and whether the terms of the agreement were consistent with the provisions of the Act and the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Regulations 2013. Specifically, the Commission had to assess if the agreement contained all the mandatory terms and conditions as required by the Act and if the process leading to the agreement was conducted fairly and in good faith.

In determining the application, the Commission considered the evidence presented regarding the bargaining process and the terms of the agreement. The Commission found that the applicants had engaged in good faith bargaining and that the agreement contained all the required mandatory terms. The Commission also confirmed that the agreement was consistent with the provisions of the Fair Work Act and the regulations. Consequently, the Commission approved the Darwin Nurse and Administration Employees Enterprise Agreement 2023 as a Registered Agreement.

The final orders of the Commission were that the proposed agreement be approved as a Registered Agreement, effective from the date of the Commission's decision. The agreement was to be registered with the Fair Work Commission and would govern the employment conditions of the nurses and administration employees covered by the agreement.

Adelaide Fertility Centre Pty Ltd T/A Repromed

CaseChat Overview and Summary

Orders of the court

Background to the litigation

Evidence Before The Court

Reasons for decision

Legal Principle Established